


Safe and Sound

by serpentandlily



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Age Difference, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:46:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 44,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27744697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serpentandlily/pseuds/serpentandlily
Summary: Grace, a preacher's daughter, takes refuge in the woods after her school is attacked. Daryl manages to stumble upon her while hunting. He brings her back to camp but he doesn't expect the feelings that soon arise between the two. Daryl Dixon isn't a man made for love...but maybe he should rethink that.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 41





	1. The Best Night

Chapter 1: The Best Night

Her stomach turned in anticipation as her nerves made her cheeks feel like fire. She raked her hands down her dress again, making sure to smooth out any crinks in the soft, silky blue fabric. Tonight was her high school's homecoming dance. School had just started three weeks ago, her final year. She bit her lip as she looked around the room she was in. She was at her best friend's pre-dance party. She recognized all the faces around her, the curse of living in such a small town. A squeal from behind her knocked her out of her trance.

"Happy Homecoming!" She turned around to see Abigail, the tall redhead that she had known since she could honestly remember. She laughed lightly as her friend embraced her in a tight hug.

Once Abby released her from the hug, she kept her hands on her shoulders and took a step back.

"Wow, look at you!" She smiled, "I knew that dress was the one!"

Grace smiled and twirled for her friend. Abby was quite stunning herself, her emerald green dress standing out in just the right way with her red hair.

"You look so ethereal." Grace said, breathless, "I can't believe this is going to be our last homecoming."

"Our last homecoming, sure, but Grace" Abby said, "You're finally eighteen! You know what that means!"

Grace giggled thinking about what Abby was insinuating. She had always been obsessed with finally getting into the 18+ clubs in the city that wasn't that far from their own small town. Today was her eighteenth birthday, but even so, Grace knew there wasn't a chance she would be going to any of those clubs. Her parents would never approve. She was lucky if she even got to make day trips into the city with her father.

"As if my father would let me." Grace said.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him!" Abby smirked.

Grace just shook her head, a small smile on her lips. Abby gave her a small pat on the shoulder before walking off to greet some other people who had just shown up at the pre-party.

Grace took this moment of solitude to head to the bathroom. She wanted to make sure everything was perfect for the homecoming pictures they were about to take. She shut the door behind her softly before letting out a small sigh. She felt so nervous for some reason. Her stomach felt restless and her face flushed. She couldn't shake the feeling.

She stared at herself in the mirror, hardly recognizing the person in front of her. Blue eyes lined with black liner and mascara, her skin slightly tanned from her hunting trips with her father, dark freckles contrasting the light blonde hair that fell slightly past her shoulders. Everything was in place, just as it was when she left her home earlier today before making the small 5 minute walk to Abby's.

She turned around to look at herself in the full length mirror hanging from the door. Her light blue dress clung to her lithe frame in a flattering way. The small white flowers that decorated the bodice emphasized the soft way her body curved at her waist. She ran her fingers over a few of them; they felt so delicate in her hands.

A knock on the door caused her to jump slightly in surprise.

"Hey Grace, Bobby's here!" She heard Abby yell from the other side of the door.

Grace's face lit up and she eagerly opened the door. Expecting to see Abby, she was surprised to see Bobby standing in front of her.

"There you are." He whispered, before stepping forward and pulling her into an embrace.

Her face turned bright red at his touch, butterflies ripping apart her stomach. Bobby, with his dark brown hair and eyes, had been her crush since freshman year. She was over the moon when he had asked her to be his date to homecoming. It had only taken him 4 years.

She melted into his arms now though. Tonight would be perfect, she decided. The best night of her life.

**

She ran as fast as she could, the snarls from the dead behind her igniting such adrenaline into her sprint. Her hair whipped around her as she continued to pass tree after tree. They were getting closer, their groaning louder and louder. She could outrun them, she was faster. But they didn’t get tired like she did. She had no other option though. The last time she had looked behind her there were three of them following her. She wasn’t sure if all the noise had driven more and she was frankly, too terrified to look.  
She needed to think of something else and quick. Her legs were burning and her chest felt empty of air. She knew it was only a matter of time before she couldn’t keep running. Suddenly she felt something tug on her dress, causing her to tumble to the ground. She let out a noise of fear as she turned around to see her dress had got snagged on one of the tree trunks. She looked up at the dead who were still chasing her. She had put a considerable distance between her and them but she still didn’t have much time.

She tugged at her dress, trying to break it free from the wood it was caught on. When it didn’t budge, she grasped the fabric with both hands and yanked as hard as she could. Her dress ripped free finally, blue fabric now decorating the tree where it had been caught. 

She looked back up to see the dead gaining on her. She didn’t have time to run, not now, not anymore. They were too close. She looked around in fright, looking for anything to help her in her predicament but there was nothing but leaves and trees around. Frantically, she looked at the tree she was under and noticed some low hanging branches. Maybe...maybe she could reach them and pull herself up.

She stood up quickly and jumped for one of the branches. The wood barely grazed her hand. She looked back at the three dead, now mere seconds away from her. With everything she had, she tried again, this time getting a grip around the branch. She pulled with all her strength, feeling the wood cut into her palms as she struggled to pull herself up. Just as the dead reached the tree, she had just managed to get her legs up and over the branch. 

They pawed at the tree now, their empty eyes eager with hunger as they snarled at her. She wanted to cry. What was she supposed to do now? She couldn’t come down, not with them there. But at the same time, she couldn’t stay up here forever. No food, no water. It would only be a matter of time before she died of starvation or thirst. She bit back a sob and looked up, seeing the branches go up higher and higher into the leaves. Maybe she could at least get out of their sight and hopefully that would cause them to wander off. 

She began making the climb upwards.

She wasn't sure how long she had been in the forest for. The days and nights had melted together into one long day of purgatory. Her stomach constantly reminded her just how long she had been away from civilization. Ever since she had discovered that the dead were not able to climb, she had been trying to stick to the trees, only climbing down when she needed to find water. She knew her time here was numbered. She couldn't survive on her own. It was a miracle she had even made it this far into the woods. If she had any hope of living, she knew she needed to make her way back to town soon. Hopefully she would find people like her, alive.

She let out a sigh and brushed her dirty hair from her face. She could feel the coarse tree ripping at the exposed skin on her back. Her dress had been ripped apart even more in the time she had spent out in the woods. It was barely clinging to her now. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the tree. How could she go back now? After all this time, was anyone else even alive? Was anyone else alive anywhere? Perhaps she was the last person on earth. For all she knew, she was. She hadn't heard or seen a single soul out in the woods.

The last memories she had floated in her mind. She prayed to God that she could go back. She would give everything she had if only it would let her go back to that day. Back when all she had to worry about was how she was going to do her hair for homecoming, if Bobby was going to like her dress, if her parents would make her leave the dance early…

She would give anything to go back.

A twig snap nearby caught her attention. Her eyes shot open, taking in her surroundings. It was probably another one of the dead. She knew if she kept quiet, it would pass.

"Merle, keep ya' fat ass quiet. Yer scarin' the squirrels away." Someone with a strong Georgia accent hissed.

Was that...a person's voice? It had been a long time since Grace had heard the sound of another person's voice.

"Yer face has been scarin' them away this whole time." The other person grunted, Merle she assumed.

Their footsteps were getting closer and closer.

The other person never replied as they kept approaching the tree Grace was hiding in. She pushed herself up against the tree. She wanted to see them before they saw her, just in case. As much as she wanted to call out to them, the first alive people she had possibly come across in a week, she was also scared. She tried to keep her breathing silent as she finally caught sight of them. There were only two of them. One appeared to be as old as forty with thin, light blonde hair and the beginnings of a beer belly. The other looked younger, maybe early thirties, with light brown hair and dirt masking his features. In his hand he carried a crossbow.

She debated calling out to them. She knew her time here was limited on her own, but at the same time, something about the two of them didn't feel right. They didn't look like folks you would want to associate with, at least, that's what her mom would probably say. But then she could also hear her dad's voice in the back of her head.

'Grace, it's not nice to judge people by their appearances. Life is not gentle for many people and just because someone looks rough around the edges doesn't mean there isn't a fair reason for them to be lookin' that way.'  
Her father, the town's preacher, voice was ever so prominent in her head.

"Looks like you scared all them squirrels away, ya' dumbass" The younger one's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

She went back to observing them as they continued to get closer to the tree she was in. Now was her chance to get out of here. All she had to do was speak, say anything. She closed her eyes for a moment, just to get a grip on her racing thoughts.  
"Well, wouldja' look at that." The older one called out, "I think I've found the biggest squirrel I've ever seen!"

She opened her eyes for a second and her heart got caught in her throat as she caught his gaze. He was looking right at her. She let out a gasp and the one with the crossbow whipped around, pointing his weapon straight at her. She pressed her back into the tree, preparing for the impact of an arrow. When it never came, she peered back down at them to see them both staring at her.

"What's a pretty thing like ya' doing up there?" The older one chuckled.

Grace, still in shock, couldn't even think of a single word to say.

"What if she's a walker man?" Crossbow muttered.

"Ya' know them walkers don't climb no trees." Merle said.

Crossbow shrugged, "Maybe they learned."

"Why don't ya' come down from up there, girl?" Merle called out, ignoring the other man.

She was so unsure of what to do, if she should trust these people. The guy with the crossbow did not look particularly friendly, his face twisted in a scowl. The man next time to him was smiling, but even so, did not appear reassuring himself.  
"She's not sayin' anything, Merle." Crossbow whispered, "It's probably one of them walkers that got themselves stuck in a tree. I say we just kill it."

"Maybe she's just shy, brother." Merle laughed, making a chill roll down Grace's spine.

Suddenly, an arrow whizzed by her ear, almost piercing her head when it came to stop, stuck right in the tree bark next to her head. She didn't even realize the scream she had let out.

"I'm alive!" She gasped, "I'm alive, please don't kill me!"

"So ya' do have a voice." Crossbow muttered, lowering his weapon.

"Why don't ya' come down from that tree, girl." Merle called out, "We can take ya' to our campsite."

"Your friend just tried to shoot me." Grace answered.

"If I wanted to shoot ya', I would've." The younger one glared.

"Don't mind my baby brother." Merle laughed, "He ain't got no manners. Now look, we ain't gonna be forcing ya' to do nothing, but all I'm sayin' is, ya' stay up in that tree and them geeks are gonna get ya'."

Grace toyed with her thoughts for a moment. Could she trust these men? But also, what other choice did she have? He was right. She knew she couldn’t survive much longer here. 

"Let's just go." Crossbow said, when Grace failed to respond, "She don't wanna come, so what? You ain't her dad."

Merle shrugged and for a second, it looked like they were about to start walking away. She had to make up her mind, now, she realized. She knew he was right though. It was a miracle she was alive. She didn't know how she even survived by herself this long. She needed other people and not just that, she wanted to be with other people. She was never the lone wolf type.

"You mentioned a campsite?" She called out.

"Yeah, we gots ourselves one of those." Merle said, turning back around, "There's other women there-a girl yer age too."

Other women? And a girl her own age, maybe someone from her town? She took a deep breath and then made her decision. She swung her leg over the branch she was sitting on and began to climb down.

"Ay, grab that arrow, wouldja'?" Crossbow asked, though it sounded much more like a demand.

She gripped the arrow sticking out of the tree and tugged on it, but it wouldn't budge. She bit her lip and then tried again, using almost all her strength. The arrow came whipping out of the tree, the force knocking Grace back. She let out a loud breath of air and she felt herself falling towards the ground. Her long dress got snatched on a branch and she could hear the sound of fabric ripping just before her back collided with the hard ground. She laid there for a moment, her cheeks flushing red as the embarrassment crept in. She could hear the men laughing.

She quickly got up and dusted herself off with her free hand. A new hole had been torn into her dress around her left mid thigh, the fabric dangling into the leaves. She let out a sigh as she grabbed the fabric near the tear and tore the remaining off.  
Crossbow plucked the arrow out of her hand, "What the hell were ya' doing in a dress like that out here?"

Grace glared at him, "I was at my homecoming dance when-"

She couldn't bring herself to finish out her sentence.

"Looks like we got ourselves a teeny-bopper!" Merle chuckled, slapping her on the back.

"I'm not-whatever!" Grace huffed.

Merle just laughed some more.

"Sorry 'bout yer dress, lil lady." Merle said, "I'm sure one of them girls back at the camp have something ya' can wear."

With that, the two men started walking off, Grace trailing behind them.

**

Shane was the first to catch sight of the Dixon brothers stomping their way back into the camp. His eyes darted behind them to see a stranger also walking in. She looked young, with light blonde hair and freckles dotting her nose. She was wearing some fancy dress covered in dirt and blonde. She didn't appear to be in better shape herself.

"When we sent you out huntin', we didn't mean for people." Shane joked.

"Found this lil' bird on our way back." Merle said, brushing him off, "Figured a lil' lady like this shouldn't be alone in the woods."

Shane had to agree with him. More people meant more mouths to feed, but he couldn't turn them away either, especially not a woman. That would be a death sentence.

"What's your name, girl?" Shane asked.

"Grace." She muttered, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Grace, you said?" Shane clarified, "Well, welcome to our camp!"

She nodded at him with a small smile. Shane seemed friendlier already then her two companions and he looked more clean. She glanced around the camp and was met with the sight of bustling strangers. There was a little boy and girl that seemed to be playing some game near an RV. Behind them were two women who kept taking turns looking in the direction of her. Also near the RV was an older, friendly looking man and two girls with blonde hair that looked related. On the other side of the camp was a family of four and another family of three.

She also spotted what seemed to be a blown out campfire, a bigger black guy sitting near it next to an asian boy who looked her age.

"It's not much, but it's something!" Shane reassured her as he watched her take in the sight of their camp, "I'm sure someone has some room they can spare for you. Ay, Glenn!"

She watched as the younger asian guy directed his attention to the pair. He jogged over to them.

"Think ya' can show our new camp member, Grace, around?" Shane asked the boy.

Glenn nodded before sending a smile in Grace's direction.

"So, Grace, is it?" Glenn said, holding out his hand.

Grace smiled as she shook his hand, "Glenn, right?"

He nodded back.

"Well, let me introduce you to everyone here!"

Grace started to follow after him but not before taking one more glance in the direction of the Dixon brothers. The younger one had already walked off in the direction of a tent that appeared the farthest away from the camp. She realized that she had never asked for his name, nor had anyone else said it. So for now, he was just Crossbow in her mind. The older one caught her glaze for a second and sent her a small wink before following after his brother.  
Something about them intrigued her. Maybe it was because they didn't seem to be the type to be at a camp like this. The other folks here seemed...well, more like the people she normally associated with. Those two brothers seemed more like the type to be part of some motorcycle gang. She thought about her father's words again though and chided herself for already judging them. They had, after all, brought her here, which was already a blessing it seemed. She would thank them later, she would make sure of it.

She cast one more look in their direction before finally taking off after Glenn.


	2. Hope

"Never have I ever smoked weed." Grace said, holding up both of her hands-three of her fingers down.

"Really?" Amy exclaimed as one of her fingers fell down. "Not even one hit?"

Amy glanced over at Glenn, her eyebrows pulled together and her face bewildered. Glenn's cheeks blushed a light red as none of his fingers moved. Her mouth dropped open.

"Not even you?" Amy said. "What is this? The Camp of the Saints?"

"My dad was a preacher." Grace shrugged innocently.

"Oh god." Amy muttered. "If anyone had told me the world was going to end, I never expected to be sharing the rest of my life with a preacher's daughter."

Grace giggled, not taking it offensively.

"Well, let's hear your excuse." Amy said, looking at Glenn.

"I just…parents were really strict." He muttered out, rubbing the back of his neck.

Grace wanted to laugh at his little lie but restrained herself. Ever since she arrived at camp, her and Glenn had gotten really close. Being in the same tent, they would often talk about their past life or anything in general until one of them fell asleep. It was easier that way than having to listen to the noises from outside. Glenn had told her all about how he was bullied at school for being Asian and a pizza delivery boy. So she doubted he was invited to any parties were drugs and alcohol would be involved.  
Amy rolled her eyes but let it go as Glenn and Grace shared a look.

"Glenn's turn." She said.

Glenn paused, thinking of what to say then smirked, "Never have I ever been to a Justin Bieber concert."

Amy looked at him questioningly, none of her fingers dropping, "Are you trying to prolong this game?"

Glenn just smirked as he looked at Grace and watched as she tried to discreetly lower her index finger. Amy turned on her, face shocked and then she groaned.

"Maybe you should go play with the kids over there." Amy picked at her. "No smoking, no drinking and now Justin Bieber concerts?"

Glenn let out a little laugh as Grace blushed, "In my defense, I was there because my parents made me take my little cousins."

Amy gave her a pointed look, not believing her story.

"What are you three doing over there?" Shane yelled out from a distance away. "Isn’t there something y’all should be doing?”

Amy rolled her eyes.

"Here comes Deputy Do-Good to ruin all our fun." She muttered under her breath as the three of them stood up from their spot on the ground. Amy left to go into the RV to find her sister and Dale while Glenn muttered something about dirty clothes and ran back to their tent.

Grace stood in her place as she glanced at Shane to see him staring at her intently. She didn't know what he expected her to do. Lori and Carol were teaching the children some math for some reason or another. Ed and Jim were lounging around. Crossbow was nowhere to be seen (she still needed to figure out his name) and his brother was hiding in his tent with some suspicious looking orange bottles.

Grace had been at the camp for about a week and she still wasn’t sure what her role here was. She was often helping the women with laundry or rationing food, taking inventory of all things. But they had just made a trip yesterday to the lake to do laundry and the rationing had been done early this morning. She sighed as she continued to look around the camp, hoping to find something to take up her time and get Shane’s looming eyes off her back.

She looked towards the woods and realized half of the laundry was still dangling from the three ropes that they had made into a makeshift clothesline using the trees. With a small shrug of her shoulders, she walked towards Lori and Carol. The women greeted her kindly as they noticed her presence near them and she met them with a smile of her own.

“Figured I could take down the laundry from yesterday.” She said, explaining why she was interrupting their lesson, “Is there a basket or something I could put the clothes into?”

“We keep the laundry baskets in the RV, dear.” Lori answered her, “I’m sure Dale can show you where they are.”

“I’ll go bother him for them then.” Grace smiled, “Thanks!”

The moms went back to their lesson as Grace began her walk over to the RV. The door to the RV was open once she made it up the small incline and she hesitantly stepped inside. She hadn’t interacted too much with Dale since arriving, mainly sticking to either helping out the older women or messing around with Amy and Glenn. She should get to know these people more, she thought to herself. She was spending the end of the world with them and she was beyond grateful that they had taken her in. That thought also reminded her that she had yet to thank the Dixon brothers for finding her. She had noticed the way the rest of the camp kept their distance from those two and to be honest, she was a little scared to approach them. They also kept to themselves all the time.

Upon entering the RV, Dale glanced up at her from his seat at the small table next to the tiny kitchen. He put down his book with a smile on his face.

“Well hi there Grace, what a pleasant surprise.” Dale said.

Grace blushed a bit at the attention, “Hi, Dale. Lori told me the laundry baskets were in here?”

Dale waved his hand in the air, brushing off her question, “Sure are, but why don’t you sit with me for a moment. I haven’t gotten a chance to welcome you to our camp yet.”

Grace hesitantly took a seat at the table across from him, feeling a bit shy. 

“So, how are you settling in here?” Dale asked, peering over at her. 

“As good as I can be.” Grace answered, her fingers fiddling with Glenn’s shirt. There wasn’t much extra clothes to go around so Grace was currently wearing a pair of Lori’s jeans and one of Glenn’s t-shirts. The boy had promised to pick her up some clothes the next time he made a trip into the city. 

“You know, I can’t lie and say I wasn’t surprised when I saw you come through those woods following the Dixon’s.” Dale laughed causing Grace to smile back at the older man, feeling a bit more relaxed.

“I’m very lucky that they found me when they did.” Grace replied, “I was probably days away from death. I’ve been meaning to thank them for that, just haven’t worked up the courage I suppose.” 

Dale nodded solemnly at the girl’s mention of death, “I don’t blame you. Those two are a bit rough around the edges and perhaps I, myself, had the wrong impression of them. Certainly didn’t expect them to be the type to be looking out for people. They do their part around the camp. They’ve been a big help to us, despite how they keep to themselves. This has made me reevaluate my feelings towards those two.”

Grace had to agree with Dale, “It’s like my father always had this saying, ‘Just because a book don’t have a pretty picture, don’t mean it ain’t worth reading’.” 

“Got to agree with your father on that one.” Dale said, “Sounds like a smart man. What did he do for a living, if ya’ dont mind me asking?”

“He was our town’s preacher.” Grace answered, smiling softly to herself. She missed her parents more than anything in the world. She wished they could be here right now, safe at the camp with her. She was so lost here. Lost on what to do and how to navigate in this world. She was lucky to have found a friend in Glenn, who was in a similar boat to her. Orphans now. 

“Well how about that!” Dale said, “I take it you’re religious yourself then?”

Grace nodded quickly. That was the one part of her that she was still so sure of, even now, even after everything. Since the outbreak happened, she had struggled with her own beliefs but knew she would never fully give up on them. It was the last remaining part of her father she had with her and she was not going to let anything take that away from here. Not even this cruel new world. 

“You know, if you ever feel up to it, I’m sure there are plenty of people at this camp that would love to talk things out with someone like you.” Dale said, “I’m sure you’ve picked up on a lot of things from your father. I’m sure there are some here who would love some guidance with their faith during a time like this.” 

Grace stared down at her hands as she took in Dale’s words. She wasn’t sure she was the right person for that. She was so much younger than these people, hadn’t even really had a chance to have a life of her own yet. What knowledge could she possibly have for them? Though perhaps knowledge isn’t what Dale was hinting at. Maybe they just needed a bit of hope...a bit of faith to get them through these trying times. Dale was right, her father had taught her a lot of things. Most of everything she knew came from him. Maybe she could help these people in that sense. If only she could get her hands on a bible. This could be a way to keep her father’s spirit alive.

She looked back up at Dale, smiling brightly. The man had just given Grace a new purpose, though when she caught the twinkle in his eyes, she figured he probably already knew that. 

“I could do that.” Grace replied, “I can ask Glenn to keep his eye out for a bible during his runs.”

“No need to ask.” Dale said, happily, then stood up from his spot at the table. He walked into the back section of the RV and Grace could hear him digging around for a second. When he returned, she could see a thick book in his hands. 

He placed the bible down on the table and slid it over to her. It was a plain copy. The shell of the book a soft brown leather, the word ‘Bible’ printed in gold ink on the front. She hesitantly picked it up, gently opening the cover to see a name written in ink on the first page. Irma. 

“It belonged to my wife.” Dale said, as he noticed her opening the book, “I was never too religious myself, but my wife was. After she passed, I read that thing from front to back, felt like I owed it to her for never taking much of an interest in it when she was alive.”

Grace smiled at him sadly.

“She died before all of this.” Dale explained, “Cancer. I bought this RV to travel across the country with her, as her final wish. She didn’t make it.”

Grace slid her hand over his as the man looked downcast. She gripped it tightly.

“Thank you for this, Dale.” Grace said lightly, “I’ll be thinking of Irma every time I use this.” 

Dale smiled at her before patting her hand and standing up.

“Let me get you those laundry baskets.” He said, “Lori’s probably wondering where you ran off to.” 

Once Grace had left the RV, she made sure to place Irma’s bible safely in the tent she was sharing with Glenn. She was a little bit relieved when she had entered and noticed the boy was off somewhere else. She had spent a bit of time there, alone, reading some passages to herself and crying. It had been a long time since she had the chance to cry. After the first few nights, she had neither the energy nor the time to cry over her parents. She was constantly on the run, hiding and searching for any bits of food or water she could find in the woods. But now that she had some semblance of safety, she couldn’t help but cry more. Now not just over her parents, but for Dale’s deceased wife. She knew nothing about the woman but holding the bible to her chest now, she couldn’t help but feel like she was a long lost friend. 

After some time, she fixed herself up and set out to do what she originally had planned, deal with the dried laundry. By the time she had made it over, Lori and Carol were done with their lessons for the kids who were now off playing nearby. Once she had started taking down the clothes from the line, the two women had joined her. They worked in silence for a couple minutes. She glanced over them every once in a while, noticing how tired they both looked. 

“You know, if you ever need help with the kids, I’m more than willing to look over them.” Grace said suddenly, causing both women to turn to her, “I used to run my church’s youth group.” 

“We could definitely use the help.” Lori replied, “Thanks Grace, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Grace nodded at her and returned to her job of folding clothes. 

“We used to go to Church every sunday, me and Sophia.” Carol said, “Might be good for the kids to do some bible study, give them a bit of normalcy in this world, maybe even some hope.”

“I would be happy to do that.” Grace smiled at the older lady.

Lori looked over at the pair of them for a brief minute and then nodded her head, “You’re right, might be good for the kids. We can set something up.” 

This is what Grace wanted...what she needed. She wanted to feel like a part of this group, wanted to contribute something, anything. Kids were easy. Grace had always had an easy time with kids, they always clung to her in some way. This was a good start, she decided, a good start to finally finding her place in the group. Some might consider it useless during this time, but Grace felt the opposite. People needed faith to get them through darkness. Even if they weren’t religious or from the same faith, they still needed hope to cling to. Her dad had taught her that. 

Grace folded the last shirt that was dangling from the line she was working on and placed it into her basket. She noticed the other two women were about done as well. She stared into the pile of clothes, wondering who they belonged to so she could drop them off. They were all men’s clothes, she realized. Mostly flannels with the sleeves torn off. 

Lori noticed her looking at her basket, “I believe those belong to the Dixon’s.”

The two women began to laugh as they noticed the look on Grace’s face at her realization. 

“Don’t worry, they’re more bark than bite.” Carol reassured the girl, “Just drop it off in front of their tent. The younger one usually returns the basket or leaves it by the RV.” 

Grace nodded at her and hesitantly picked up the basket. Her heart was pounding in her chest for some reason. She thought back to her talk earlier with Dale. She had no reason to be scared of either of the Dixons. They looked rough but had never done anything to earn them the reputation they had. She still needed to thank them, a week had already passed. She gripped the basket tightly in her fingers and began the walk to their tent which was on the other side of the small hill, still the farthest away from everyone. 

Merle was nowhere in sight as their tent finally came into Grace’s view. The younger one, who she still hadn’t learned the name of, was sitting on a log outside of their tent, a pile of dead squirrels next to him. He appeared to be skinning them. She grimaced as she took in the bloody sight of them. She started closing the distance between the two of them. He never looked up at her or even acknowledged her presence, but for some reason, she knew he knew she was there. 

She set the basket down by their tent, “I, uh, I’m just dropping off your laundry.”

The man still didn’t bother looking in her direction but she did hear a very small, mumbled ‘thanks’ from under his breath. She gazed at him for a second. He was a lot cleaner today compared to when she had first seen him from up in the trees. His short sandy blonde hair contrasted with his heavily tanned skin and his intense focus was making his jawline prominent. Even so, without all the dirt, he looked younger than she had previously thought he was. She walked up to him, feeling a bit braver now but didn't say anything.

She stood in front of him, trying to find that last bit of courage to finally speak to him.

"What the hell do ya' need?" He garbled, annoyed by her silence, "Can't ya' see I'm busy?"

She fiddled with her clothes, feeling less brave, "I just wanted to thank you, you know, for bringing me here. I don't know if I'd even be alive still if you and your brother hadn't stumbled across me."

He looked at her, the emotion behind his cobalt eyes unrecognizable. He let out a small scoff in her direction before turning back his attention to the squirrel he was working on. She glanced behind him to spot the string of a dozen or so squirrels, all waiting to meet the same fate as the one currently in his hands.

Unnerved by the silence, Grace spoke again, "I was just wondering why you always go hunting for squirrels."

"Why else would I go?" He asked, looking at her as if she was dumb, "So everyon' has sumthin' to eat so they shut the hell up."

"I meant, why don't you hunt for deer or something?" She asked, remembering how her father sometimes brought back dead deer and shriveled her nose.

"Ya' all sorts of dumb, aren't cha'?" He said and she glared at him.

"No need to be so rude." She bit back, "I just meant, there has to be more than squirrels out there."

She gestured to the forest behind them. This forest was much larger than the one behind her house and her dad managed to find deers there.

"Well if ya' think so, why don't ya' go out hunting?" He said harshly.

"Maybe I can teach you how to set up some deer traps." She said, feeling a little insecure because of his tone.

He dropped his knife and looked up at her; his eyes unfriendly.

"Look here, girl" He said, "You ain't got nuthin' ya' can teach me. So why don't ya' run along and go play with them kids or sumthin’.”

After his rant he went back to gutting his catch while Grace felt her face grow hot. She wasn't used to being talked to like that and she felt tears of embarrassment pooling in her eyes. She turned away from him and started walking back into camp eager to get away from the cruel man.

She was so lost in her train of thoughts that she hadn’t noticed Glenn coming down towards her and she nearly ran straight into him. He noticed the look on her face and steadied her with his hands on her upper arms. 

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Grace nodded and tugged her blonde hair out of its ponytail. Glenn didn't look convinced and he glanced behind her to see Daryl watching them from his place in front of his tent.

"Did Daryl say something to you?" He asked.

Grace was confused for a moment, not knowing who Daryl was. She turned to follow his gaze and saw Crossbow glance at her for a moment before turning his gaze back to the squirrels. So, his name was Daryl, she assumed. Daryl Dixon.

"No." She lied, "I'm fine."

"If you're sure." He said, still unconvinced, "Look, if Daryl did say something to you, just ignore him. He's not very nice. Racist, sexist, and just plain mean."

Grace nodded and muttered, "You can say that again."

Glenn chuckled, "Yeah. Anyways, me and a few others are going into town for some supplies soon. I'll look for some clothes for you while we're there. Anything I should look out for?"

Grace paused in thought, "I'll take anything you can get your hands on. Particularly a pair of shoes."

She looked down at her worn, bare feet. No one had any extra shoes on them and she only had her silver high heels from homecoming.

Glenn nodded, taking another glance at Daryl’s tent behind her before moving his arm around the girl’s shoulder, “Alright, let’s head back. Maybe Shane’s off doing his rounds in the woods and we can get back to our game with Amy.”  
Grace laughed and let the boy drag her back towards the main camp.

**

_Grace laughed as she danced alongside Abby, her hips swaying to the music and her blue dress flowing with her movement. So far, the dance hadn't been particularly spectacular. The theme this year had been "Midnight Renegade" and some lights had been strung along the gym ceiling and a dj was stationed on a platform somewhere. Other lights lit the floor in colors of purple, red and white. Her school couldn't afford much else for a dance, so she supposed this was the best they could do.  
But being here surrounded by her friends, she was having the time of her life._

_Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Bobby standing off the dance floor, his gaze catching hers. She smiled lightly and whispered to her friends that she would be back, but she doubted they heard her over the music. They didn't appear to care as they continued dancing with each other as she walked off. Bobby met her halfway, taking her small hand in his._

_"Having fun?" He asked, casually._

_She nodded with the same small smile, "One of the best nights."_

_"I'm glad." He said, and then rubbed the back of his neck looking unsure._

_Grace looked at him a little confused, wondering what he wanted to say to her._

_"Is there something you wanted to say, Bobby?" She asked lightly, and her voice seemed to give him a little bit of courage._

_"Look Grace, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now." He said, looking straight into her eyes. She nodded at him to keep going, feeling her heart rise and butterflies come to life in her stomach._

_"Ever since I saw you, I've always thought you were the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." He said his voice low._

_She smiled at him but didn't say anything as she knew he had more to say._

_"And I've always wanted to have the chance to talk to you, to get to know you." He said. "And I'm happy I had the chance to do that this year."_

_Her smile grew a little bigger._

_"And after all this time, I began to realize something." He said, "I-"_

_Suddenly he was cut off as the music shut off and people began screaming. Both Grace and Bobby looked around in shock and fear as people began running. Suddenly a voice came over the loudspeaker._

_"Please remain calm and report to the underground shelter for tornados." The voice of her principal said. "I repeat, please remain calm and report to the underground shelter for tornados."_

_"What's going on?" Grace yelled over the commotion, her hand still in Bobby's._

_"I don't know." He said._

_Suddenly someone screamed from nearby them and she looked over to see a person grabbing a girl from her science class and biting into her neck. Blood spilled out from the wound and splashed onto the floor. Grace looked back at Bobby, eyes wide in fright. He looked scared as well._

_"Grace, come on." He said. "We need to get out of here! We need to get to the shelter!"_

_He tugged her along as he began weaving through bodies. All Grace could hear was painful screams and heart-chilling moans. Suddenly something cold grabbed her free arm and she turned around to see one of those…things trying to bite at her. She screamed in fright and Bobby whirled around at the noise. He yanked her free of the things hold and pulled her along as fast as he could to get away._

_Suddenly, with everyone trying to get out the door, she was pushed in the crowd and she felt her hand slipping from Bobby's._

_"Grace! Hang on!" He yelled over the tops of people's heads._

_She tried to hang on as tight as she could but her hand slipped out from his as she was pushed roughly._

_"Bobby!" She screamed._

_"Grace!" She heard him yelling but she was pushed from the doors and lost sight of him._

_The last thing she heard from him was her name being screamed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, thanks so much for the kudos you left me! Hope you enjoy this chapter! I'm trying really hard to not write season 1 Daryl out of character. I just did a rewatch of this season and it's crazy how different his character was when the show started. I'm going to try and work out an update schedule soon hopefully. I have the next 5 chapters written but I want more of a backlog just incase things get hectic over the Christmas season. Anyways, thanks for reading!


	3. Moment of Peace

Another day had passed and she was back to her usual routine of not knowing what to do or where to help. This morning, she had helped Lori and Carol wrangle the kids in for some lessons but once the women seemed to have a handle on things, she had instead gone and spent some time reading over the new bible she had been gifted. She had also remembered to ask Glenn to look for a journal or something during the trip he would soon be taking into the city. She figured it was about time she wrote down all the things her dad had taught her in regards to most of the stories and passages in the bible, especially if she was going to start teaching it. 

The calendar in the RV had let her know that today was Wednesday. Her first bible study was going to be on Sunday, to keep up the old world tradition. So she had a few days to prepare for the children, which she was thankful for. However, that still left her a lot of time to be wandering around, trying to find other things she could do in the camp to help out. 

She thought back to what Daryl had snarled at her, feeling a pit in her stomach as she remembered his words. A part of her felt guilty; she had only wanted to help. But it seems like the hunter had determined that she was insinuating she didn't think he was doing a very good job. She was only thinking back to what Shane had yelled out to them earlier, about them needing to find somewhere to help. Her dad had taken her on hunting trips, she knew a bit about it, so she figured maybe she could help the two Dixon brothers since it seemed like no one else was offering. She shook away the feelings. Clearly, he didn't want her help and after the small interactions she had with Daryl, she figured it was better to just stay clear of him. 

She looked over at the supply table. Well, just because she was now choosing to stay out of the man’s way didn’t mean she couldn’t help. Thinking of his words to her earlier, she suddenly felt angry…angry but determined.

She grabbed some of the cords from the supplies table and went off into the woods. She knew it might be stupid to go alone so she didn't venture very far from camp. Looking around, she managed to find six sturdy long sticks and collected those.

She continued walking until she stumbled upon some animal tracks and looked around for a big tree. She found one and began to tie a slipknot in the cord. Looking at the animal tracks closer, she was sure this was a deer so she made the hole about two feet wide. She tied the other end of the cord to the tree and set the sticks in the ground around the cord. She attached the cord to the sticks to make it stand up, ready to catch a deer by the neck as soon as it crossed its path. Looking at her hard work, she was proud of herself. This was the first time she had set up a trap without her dad's guidance.

Footsteps from behind her made her jump in surprise and she whirled around to see Daryl standing a few ways off. She glared at him.

"So ya' are a dumb bitch after all." He said, "Comin' in the woods all by yerself. Are ya' lookin' to be killed?"

Grace glared at him, angry again, "I'm not dumb. And I was setting up some traps."

Daryl ignored her attitude and looked around her to the trap.

"Not bad." He said, "Fer a girl and everythin'."

She bit her lip to refrain herself from biting back at him. She remembered her father's words quite clearly to never speak out against someone. Don't stoop to a level anything beyond what God has intended for us, he would say. In his memory, she wanted to follow his words very clearly. More now than anything. She had no guidance now. She was alone. So she would hold onto the things he had taught her.

She dusted her hands off and stalked past him but he grabbed onto her upper arm with a hard grip looking mad. She wasn't about to lie and say she wasn't scared. This man was obviously bigger than her, stronger than her.

"Listen girl." He snarled, "Ya said it yerself, me and my brother saved yer ass. The least you could do is stay out of my business. I sure as hell don't need yer help and you being out here just seems like a liability I didn't ask for."

She glared at him now, insulted. She might not be as strong or knowledgeable as him, but she sure as hell wasn't a liability.

"I can take care of myself," She retorted, shrugging his hand off her arm, "And I'm not interested in your business. I came out here to help out the camp, not you. Having one person in charge of hunting for food for a group this big makes no sense, and it doesn't seem like anyone else is particularly eager to help you at. Can't imagine why."

The last bit came off far more sarcastic than she intended. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"If I wasn't for me, you'd be dead off in the woods somewhere. So ya' better learn to shut that mouth of yers." He snarled, "Take care of myself, my ass. Is that why you were holed up in that tree, looking a days away from death? If ya wanna help out the camp, maybe try babysitting them kids. Seems you ain't too different from them."

Before she could even say anything in her defense, he stalked off into the woods with his hunting knife and crossbow strung over his shoulder.

She felt her knees collapse from under her as she realized she was holding her breath in. She slid her back down the tree and sat on the floor, drawing her knees into her chest.

Being from a small town that was highly religious, being the preacher's daughter meant she got automatic respect from anyone. People treated her like a child most of her life, even now that she was eighteen. She never had anyone talk to her the way Daryl did and although it was frightening, she couldn't help but enjoy it somehow. She was tired of being treated as someone special when she knew it was just because of her dad. Daryl had just made it very clear that he didn't care about her or where she came from and somehow…she liked it.

He was different, she decided. Rude, racist, sexist, shallow, aggressive, dominant, and flat out cruel. He was so different from anything she had ever experienced and as she sat on the floor, her back against the tree he had unknowingly pushed her towards, she couldn't help but like the way he treated her in some twisted way. Her past life was gone. Grace, the preacher's daughter, her whole identity, washed away in a single night.

And while Daryl clearly didn't have a very high opinion of her, at the very least, he didn't treat her like she was something that needed to be coddled or sweet talked. He was just….Daryl. No bullshit, no lies, not looking to gain something from her like most people her life had been. She pictured the rough man again in her mind, thinking back about the many times she had caught his gaze but couldn't distinguish the feeling behind his blue eyes. He was a mystery to her.

**

Grace walked through the trees, the words of Daryl Dixon swirling around in her mind. She wasn’t a child, she thought angrily to herself. She had always thought she was mature for her age but ever since this whole apocalypse happened, it seemed like everyone liked to remind her just how much of a child she was. She wanted to prove them wrong though. She wanted to show them that she could help and contribute to the group more in ways more than just being a babysitter. But how could she prove her worth to these people? They didn’t trust her to go on runs with Glenn, they didn’t trust her to keep watch, they didn’t trust her at all it seemed. 

She slumped down next to a tree. She knew enough about hunting that she knew for a fact that she could help Daryl, if only he would let her. But the man clearly didn’t like her all that much. Though it didn’t seem like he particularly liked anyone here, not even his own brother. She was starting to wonder why he was even here, why they both were. Did they even want to be a part of the group? It really didn’t seem like it at all. 

“Ay, whatcha’ doin’ out here, girl?” A voice startled her out of her thoughts, “Gonna climb one of them trees again?”

Grace looked up to see Merle standing in front of her. Great, she thought to herself, another Dixon. She had just made the decision to leave those two be but it seemed like the universe had other plans. Why had she managed to stay out of their way for an entire week but now couldn’t seem to get rid of them? She looked over him for a second. He was wearing some dirty denim jeans, a gray t-shirt, and a leather vest. He looked straight up like the man she often saw crawling out of the bar in her town late at night. She wondered what Merle did before the world came tumbling down...what Daryl did too. She couldn’t think of a job that suited either of the brothers. 

“Just thinkin.” She said quickly, realizing she had never answered the man. 

Merle glanced over her, his dark eyes sending a small shiver down the back of her spine. Though his presence unsettled her, she had to admit the older Dixon brother had been a hell of a lot nicer to her than Daryl. 

“Ya’ a far way from camp, girl.” Merle said, “Best get back now, ya’ don’t know what or who is gonna find ya’ out here like this.” 

The way he said that made Grace look at him, alarmed. What or Who? What exactly did he mean by that? I mean, if one of them dead things showed up, she knew she could just run back to camp. She had outrun a few the small amount of times she had run into them while she was on her own. She knew she could do it again. But who? What was that supposed to mean?

She shrugged her shoulders in reply to the man, “I can take care of myself.”

“Sure thing, lil lady.” Merle laughed, it didn’t sound like he believed her at all though, “What's got ya’ down in the dumps anyways? Ya’ always chattering off at camp with that chink. Now ya’ out here lookin’ like ya’ just found yer dog dead.”

Grace bit back a grimace, she had found her dog dead at the start of all this. She shook her head before she let the thoughts of that day consume her. She didn’t want to think of that stuff now. She had spent the last few days crying about it in the small moments she had alone in her shared tent with Glenn. That stuff had to be in the past now, or else...well, she didn’t know how she could continue on. It had been a struggle, the hardest thing she had ever had to experience, those few weeks alone. She didn’t want to think of that now. 

“Well, your brother is a bit of a jerk.” Grace said, before she could stop herself. 

She winced in preparation for what she sure was another onslaught of abuse from a Dixon. She couldn’t believe she just said that to Daryl’s brother of all people. But the words from the younger Dixon had stung, and she couldn’t get them out of her mind. It was all she had been thinking about since their encounter. She was suddenly surprised when she heard laughter. 

“Well, I did teach him myself.” The older man chuckled, “Don’t let Darlena get yer panties all in a bunch. My baby brother ain’t really a people person. Why ya’ bothering that boy anyway? Lookin’ for a man to shackle up with at night? Yer lookin’ in the wrong places, lil lady. Hell, I’m standin’ right here!”

She honestly couldn’t even tell if Merle was joking or not. His laughter indicated he was but at the same time, she knew if she was looking for...that, she doubted he’d have any qualms about it. She rolled her eyes at his response. The Dixon brothers were certainly something else, she decided. 

“I’m not looking for a man, Merle.” She snipped, “I just wanted to-”

Before she could finish her sentence another voice interrupted her.

“Everythin’ okay over here?” Shane had suddenly made an appearance, rifle dangling from its holder around his chest. 

Merle scoffed in his direction, insulted by the undertone of Shane’s question.

“Everythings fine, deputy.” Merle glowered at the man, “We’re jus’ doin’ a bit of talkin’. Ain’t that right, girl?”

Grace glanced between the two men, suddenly aware of the tension in the air. Shane was glaring at Merle, his eyes hard and accusatory. Merle seemed to be insulted by the way Shane was looking at him and matched the man’s stare with his hard, steel eyes. She was right in her assumption that the camp didn’t really care for the two Dixon brothers. They just didn’t fit in here. 

Grace could hear her father’s voice in the back of her mind again, chiding her for her thoughts. Her father was as open minded as could be when it came to other people, which was a sort of welcomed surprise coming from a Southern preacher. He was quite possibly the best man Grace had ever known and the most welcoming...towards everyone. She knew if he were here right now he would treat the Dixons with respect. 

‘We’re very lucky, Grace. For the life that we have. So many others are not. Don’t be too weary of them though. Lots of time, if ya’ just dig a little, you’ll find out all the reasons for why they are so rough.’’ She could hear his words now. 

“We were just talking.” Grace said, looking at Merle for a second, “Merle was actually just telling me to head back to camp.” 

Shane didn’t seem to believe her at all as he looked at her for a moment before returning his glare to Merle. 

“If ya’ say so.” Shane said, still glowering at the older man, “Hell, I’ll walk you back there myself, right now.” 

Grace nodded and hopped up from her spot on the ground. She was kind of upset her moment of solitude had been interrupted by the two men but the way they had been looking at each other just now...Grace knew if they spent any more time together they’d be at each other’s throat. 

Shane placed a hand on her shoulder and directed her to the path leading back to the camp. She let him guide her but not before glancing back at Merle one last time. 

He was flipping off Shane behind his back, letting out a crooked grin when he caught Grace’s gaze. She couldn’t help but smile back at him. 

“It’d do good for you to stay out of the woods, girl.” Shane said, filling the silence as they continued to walk to camp, his hand still on her shoulder as if to tell her he wasn’t going to let her walk off again, “It’s dangerous out here.” 

There it was again. She was so tired of everyone treating her like a child. She knew it was dangerous out here. She had spent the past few weeks out here on her own. She wasn’t in the mood for an argument though, so she just nodded her head at the man’s word.

“It’d do you good to stay away from the Dixons too.” He added. 

“What’s wrong with the Dixons?” Grace played dumb, but she was curious about his statement. She wondered if the camp really had a reason for being so distrustful towards the two brothers or if they were just being judgmental. 

Shane suddenly stopped walking and turned towards her. She looked at him in surprise as he now rested both his hands on her shoulders. He was far bigger than her, nearly towering over her. Although Shane has been nothing but nice to her since she arrived, his presence now felt a bit looming.

“Look Grace, I don’t wanna scare ya’ or nothing but,” Shane started, “I’ve been a cop for a long time. Before the world went to shit, I had my fair share of run ins with guys like the Dixons. They aren’t good people, ya’ hear? Now this world is different, no laws, no structure. Guys like them thrive in this type of world. They’re dangerous. My job here is to protect you guys, keep this camp safe. You’re only making that harder for me if you run off out here and stick around those guys, alright. It’s best ya’ stay in camp, stay with the other women.” 

Grace gnawed on her lip during his rant, her mind swirling again with Daryl’s words. Still though, she just had this feeling at the pit of her stomach. When she looked at Daryl, like really looked at him, she never felt scared? She never felt threatened. Sure he was mean, she had been on the receiving end of his brutality twice now, but not once did she ever feel like he would hurt her. 

“If the Dixons are so bad, why are they here then?” She asked, “Why do you keep them around?” 

Shane sighed and let go of one of her shoulders to rub the back of his head, “If it were up to me, they would’ve been out the first time they opened their mouths. But this world is new. They have a skill that’s handy right now, one we need. We need food and they know how to get it. Once we find a more secure place to be, then our time with them is over.”

“So you’re just using them, then.” Grace said, “Using them and then you’re going to dump them the first chance you get?” 

Shane looked at her, the emotion being his eyes indistinguishable.

“That’s the way the world works now.” He shrugged, “We do what we can to survive. We have to. I have people I gotta look after. You’re included in that Grace.”

He gave her a pointed look, “Now no more questions. Let’s get back to camp. And I better not see ya’ out here by yourself again.”

She nodded her head to him and he finally let go on her. They started their walk back to the camp again. So much had changed for her. It seemed like that old Grace, the one from homecoming night was long gone, even though those events weren’t really that far away. She had been thrust into this new world all on her own, needing to find her own way. She barely knew these people, who they were and who they’d been. Some had already come to feel like family for her though, like Glenn and Amy. 

She was grateful to be here. She knew she’d be dead if it weren’t for this camp. Still though, Shane’s words did not sit well with her. Using people like that, well, to her it was just wrong. But what could she do about it? She had tried to help Daryl and when he made it clear he didn’t need it, she still tried to help on her own and managed to piss him off again. Well, at least she couldn’t say she never tried.

**

The next day, Grace stood by the edge of the campsite, watching as the group of volunteers struggled to get enough weapons to defend themselves just in case they were attacked in the city. She hated seeing Glenn hold a large crowbar in his hands. It seemed out of place-the stark metal with the hint of violence against his innocent, harmonious expression. She was tempted to go and volunteer to get supplies as well, just to make sure nothing happened to any of them. But she knew she wasn't prepared for what she would see in the city and she would only make the group weaker with her lack of fighting skills. But that didn't stop her from wishing.

"Whadda' ya' doin' girl?" A rough voice came up behind her, making her jump in surprise. She glanced back to see Merle standing there, staring at her with that creepy grin. She bit back a grimace.

"I thought you were going in the city as well?" She asked. She was pretty sure Glenn had told her the man had volunteered, which had shocked her a bit. She didn't think Merle was all down for putting his life on the line for this group.

"Had to take a piss." He said, in that rough Georgia accent of his. "Got a problem wit' that?"

"No." She said, as her cheeks turned a bit red at the blunt mention of his urinary relief.

"Heard that yer lil' boyfrien' is comin' on the trip wit us." He said, nodded his head towards Glenn.

If her face wasn't red before, it definitely was now.

"Glenn isn't my boyfriend!" She exclaimed. In fact, he was quite the opposite. Ever since they had gotten close, he was almost a brotherly figure to her-not that she knew what it was like to have a brother being an only child.  
"Sure thing, lil' lady." He said, with that smirk. "But if he is, ya' best end that shit righ' now. It'll do ya' no good to hang out with them chinks."

Grace, growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood, had never experienced racism and was a little shocked that it was still going on.

"That's no way to talk about people, Mr. Dixon." She said, trying her best to be polite but stand up for her friends. She had already enraged one Dixon and she didn't want to see how Merle dealt with his anger.

"Mr. Dixon, eh?" Merle said, raising an eyebrow. "Now I could get use ta bein' called that fer sure. Still though, lil lady. Ya want a man, ya better find yourself one from your kind. Ain’t suppose to mix shit up, ya’ know. It just ain’t right.”

Grace figured it was no use trying to reason with him, "Whatever you say, Merle. But can you at least promise you won't start anything with them? From what Glenn told me, things in the city are rough. I wouldn't want any trouble with the group."

"Can't promise ya' much, girl." He said. "Them boys needa learn their place in this world. And from what my brother tells me, so do ya'."

Grace crossed her arms, "Yeah, well your brother isn't very nice."

"Taught him the best I could." He smiled, taking her insult as a compliment. "Have ya' seen that ugly ass fucker around?"

"Last time I saw him he was running off in the woods." She muttered, as thoughts of their last encounter popped up in her mind. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen him since that.

"Dick can't even cum tell his brother goodbye." Merle said, but he didn't look upset about it.

"Hey, Dixon!" Andrea yelled from her place by the car, "Time to go!"

"Yeah it's time to go alrigh'." Merle muttered under his breath. "Time to go back to my tent and get that loud mouth of yers put to good use."

Grace let her jaw drop.

"Merle!" She exclaimed, hitting his arm lightly.

"What?" He asked, looking down at her. "Ya' jealous? Ya' can join in too, girl."

Grace's face turned bright red and she scoffed. That was the last thing she wanted to do.

"I've always wanted ta say I fucked a preacher's daughter." He smirked with a wink.

"Just go, Merle." She muttered under her embarrassment.

**

Grace sighed as she watched over the children playing on the field. Since the group left, she had been assigned the task of watching the children while the other women went down to the lake to clean clothes. She had played with the children for a while before getting tired of their child-like enthusiasm and had resided to sitting by a tree watching them play tag. She had given them one rule: not to leave her sight.

Lori and Carol had told her that they would come get them when they got back. She figured it wouldn't be for a while.

"Hey! Grace!" Sophia called out to her with a sweet voice.

Grace got up and walked over to the children where they were sitting. It seemed as though they had stopped playing tag.

"What do you need, Sophia?" She asked lightly.

"We're playing duck, duck, goose now." She said, happily. "Do you want to play?"

Grace couldn't deny her with that little smile on her face, "Ok, I'll play with you guys."

So she played with the children for a while. They laughed at her trying to catch Carl but the little boy was much too fast for her. For a moment, just sitting here playing with the children, she was reminded of all the times she volunteered at the church for daycare. Although the world had gone to hell, these children still held the innocence and child-like enjoyment the children she used to watch had. She could tell however, from their worn feet and dirty faces, that they were being hardened by the events of the world. She just hoped it wouldn't change them too much.

Once they had drained her of energy once again, she took the spot back against the tree and folded her legs into her chest. The kids followed after, hair messy and their little chests rising with deep breaths. Seemed like they had tired themselves out as well.  
“You guys done playing already?” She asked them as they sat down next to her. 

“Carl’s too fast.” Sophia said, crossing her arms with a small glare in the boy's direction. 

Carl poked his tongue out at her, “You didn’t believe me when I told you I won my schools end of the year race!” 

“Well I definitely believe you.” Grace laughed, “I sure couldn’t keep up with you. You're probably the fastest one at this camp!”

Carl beamed with pride at Grace’s statement but she couldn’t help but notice how downcast it had made Sophia.

“If Carl’s the fastest, then what am I?” Sophia asked, her voice meek. 

Grace glanced over at the girl. Her thoughts couldn’t help but drift to the girl’s family. Carol, her mother, who seemed very fragile and defenseless and Ed, her dad...She knew all about Ed. Glenn had filled her in on a lot but she had heard it for herself a couple nights. It was no secret Ed liked to beat on Carol and it was quite possible Sophia received the same treatment. Her heart broke at that thought. Sophia didn’t deserve that. No child deserved that. 

“I bet you’re the strongest.” Grace said, with such conviction that the girl looked up at her with a bit of surprise in her eyes.

“The strongest?” Carl scoffed from next to her, “Shane is the strongest person at camp! He helped me and my mom get here!” 

“I bet Sophia has more of a fighter spirit in her than Shane.” Grace retorted, “Why don’t we settle this right now? Arm wrestle battle between the two of you. Winner takes all!” 

Sophia and Carl giggled at her exclamation but both nodded eagerly. They both placed their elbows on the dirt before locking arms and hands together. 

“Alright, the game begins on 3.” Grace laughed, “1….2….3” 

The kids bickered between each other as they both fought to push the other ones arm down into the dirt. It was a close battle but finally Sophia managed to finally win.  
“See I told you so,” Grace said to both the kids, “the strongest one here!” 

She bopped the end of Sophia’s small nose with her index finger. Sophia giggled to herself, the smile on her face was infectious, even for Carl. After that, the group sat silently with each other, all a bit tired from their games. 

"Hey Grace." A voice whispered next to her. She turned down to see Carl looking up at her with wide eyes.

"Yes, Carl?"

"Did you have a dad?" He asked.

"Of course, I did." She said.

"Did he die like my dad did?" He asked, his eyebrows pulling together. "That's what my mom told me. Dad died in the hospital."

Grace bit her lip, willing her eyes not to water, "Yeah. Yeah, my daddy died."

**  
_Grace ran as the crowd behind her pushed her into the hallway. She tried to stop for a moment, not believing this was happening. She knew she had to get out of the school. She knew she had to get away. She glanced to her right and saw a hallway that was relatively empty of students. She knew everyone was trying to get to the underground shelter, but she just wanted to go home._

_So she ran down the hallway that luckily had none of those things, and burst out the back doors of the school. She found herself along the edge of the forest and something in the back of her brain told her to run to the forest, to get away from her town. But she couldn't. Not without her parents._

_She ignored the screams as she ran to her house. She could see people getting attacked but she stayed along the edge of the forest, not wanting to go into the streets where she could hear gunshots. Her house wasn't very far from the high school, but her high heels were preventing her from running very fast and her dress kept getting tangled up around her ankles. She paused for a moment to take her shoes off, eyes peeling around to make sure none of those things were nearby._

_With her shoes in her hand, she took off again and made it to her house five minutes later. She stopped in her backyard, which had no fence because her dad loved living right in front of the woods. She was instantly met with the sight of her dog, Wilhelm, who had been tied up to a pole in the backyard as he was every evening before they would let him inside for the night. He was lying on the floor, blood pooling around his neck. Tears sprung into her eyes and without thinking, she ran to where he lay and grabbed him in her arms._

_His blood got all over her dress and arms, but she didn't think about it for one moment. All she could think about was him. How he had been her best friend since sixth grade. How he had been there the night she had cried when her first boyfriend broke up with her. How he had been there to comfort her when she found out her grandma died. Sadness ripped at her heart but she knew she had to go inside and check on her parents._

_With tears still being shed, she left her poor dog's body and walked in the house._

_Everything was silent. There wasn't the noise of the TV, or the sound of dishes being washed, or the smell of dinner cooking. The air was stuffy and there was a pungent smell. She figured her parents would be in their bedroom. Probably could hear the gunshots and had holed themselves in there to watch the news. She cautiously walked up the stairs and she could hear a slight moaning. Assuming they were hurt, she burst in the room._

_"Mom?" She called out. "Dad?"_

_Suddenly something cold grabbed her arm and pulled her fiercely. Her eyes grew wide as she saw her mother's face. Her flesh had decayed and she desperately tried to bite at Grace._

_Grace broke free of her grasps, thanking the Lord her mother was a small woman and grabbed the nearest thing she could find-a snow globe. Without thinking of anything but her life, she smashed the snow globe down on her mother's head as she tried to attack her. The hit made her mother reel back, enough for Grace to break away from her._

_Grace let out a sob as she looked around the room. Her father lay dead in the corner, his head smashed in and his stomach ripped open. She grimaced as she suddenly felt very nauseous and threw up in the corner of the room._

_And her dad was dead._

_Her dog was dead._

_And her mother had just...attacked her?_

_She could hear the screams in the street growing louder and the gun shots seemed to dissipate. Her mind told her she had to leave now. Run in the forest and never stop running. But her heart kept her in place. She couldn't stop sobbing. Was this all a dream? Why was this happening?_

_Snarling brought her back into reality as her mother had started pushing herself back up from the ground, her wild hungry eyes locked into to Grace._

_“Mom, please!” Grace called out._

_Her mother didn’t make any indication that she had heard or understood Grace as she stood up fully before lunging again in her direction._

_Her mind eventually overpowered her heart and she ran her house, glancing back at it as she stood along the edge of the forest to see her mother running outside towards her before locking sights on her dead dog. She bent down next to him and began feasting on what remained of him. Grace prayed to God to wake up. To suddenly awake in her bed and realize it was all a nightmare. But it never happened and as the screams grew closer and the gun shots disappeared…._

_She ran._

_She ran into the forest and never looked back._

**

"What about your mom?" Carl asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Dead." She replied. "Both of them, dead."

Carl's face melted into a frown, "I'm sorry, Grace."

"Don't worry about it, Carl." She said, trying to hide her tears.

Suddenly she felt tiny arms enclose around her waist and realized Carl was hugging her. She smiled a bit and hugged him back before releasing him. It seemed like the small rest was enough for the children because soon after Carl yelled ‘tag’ before lightly hitting Sophia in the arm and jumping up to run away. Sophia ran after him. The game continued on around them. 

Grace got lost in her thoughts again, thinking of her family. She wondered where her mom was now, roaming the streets of her town perhaps. It killed her inside to know that her mother had been...turned into one of those things. Geeks as Shane liked to say. She hated that word though. She wasn’t sure how long she was stuck in her head before a rough voice pulled her away. 

"Sophia." Ed called, walking up from the hill.

"Do you need something, Ed?" She asked politely, standing up as the man approached. The man gave her the chills with his mean gaze.

"Get outta my way." He said, roughly. "I'm taking my daughter."

"Carol and Lori gave me strict orders to keep all the kids here till they came back." She said, not looking him in the eyes.

"Look girl, I don't care what they said." He snarled. "I'm taking my daughter."

He began to walk towards the children, who paid no attention to the two of them, except Sophia. The little girl looked frightened and it broke Grace's heart.

"You can't take Sophia right now, Ed. Not until her mother comes back." She said, placing a hand on his arm to stop him.

He whirled back towards her, his eyes mad with anger. It happened so fast, she didn't even feel it at first. But suddenly, she was on the ground and the spot on her left cheek felt hot. She looked up at Ed in shock, realizing he had hit her. Tears sprung into her eyes and she began to feel the pain of his hit. She stood up as she watched Ed grab Sophia and walk off but felt so powerless to do anything. She stood in that same spot until Carol and Lori came an hour later to fetch the children.  
When they saw Sophia gone and Grace's red face and terrified expression, not one question was asked.

**

Later that day, Grace was in the RV’s bathroom, staring at herself in the small mirror. A small bruise was beginning to form on her cheek but it looked like a smudge of dirt so no one had asked any questions about it. She didn't know if she should tell anyone what happened. And who was she supposed to tell anyways? She supposed Shane was a cop but she figured that didn't apply now. They were all just people trying to survive and she doubted anyone cared enough to do anything about it anyways. It's not like they could throw Ed in jail. The most they could do was kick him out of the group and she knew Carol would follow after him. And she didn't want to condemn Carol and Sophia to that fate.

So, she kept her mouth shut.

But she stayed away from Ed. The man was scary and dangerous and she never wanted to see him again. Being at the same camp with him would be hell. But what could she do about it? Leave? And then what? Become walker food?

Grace grabbed one of the clean towels from the pile in the bathroom and decided now was a good enough time to go bathe herself. Everyone was at camp besides Daryl who was hunting so she would have the lake to herself.

She exited the RV, briefly stopping to tell Dale where she was headed as he turned to look down at her from his watch post on the top of the vehicle. She walked down the hill and tried to find a secluded area, but there wasn't much to work with. Taking a glance around to make sure no one was here, she took off Glenn's t-shirt and a pair of jeans that Carol had let her borrow for the day. Once she was naked, she stepped into the water so that her whole body was covered and began to lather her hair with some shampoo.

It felt nice to wash her hair finally. It had been so long since she had taken a shower and she had to rinse, lather, and repeat a few times before most of the grime was out of her hair.

Once she was done, she quickly walked out of the water and wrapped the towel around herself. She didn't see anyone coming down the hill, so she figured it was safe to let herself dry off for a few more minutes before putting her clothes on.

She could feel the heat of the sun bouncing on her skin and for a moment, she just stood there with her eyes closed and didn't think of anything. She could hear the leaves of the trees from the forest being pushed back and forth from the wind and could hear the water from the creek nearby. Everything seemed peaceful and for a moment, she forgot she was in the middle of an apocalypse.

Suddenly, a branch snapping nearby woke her from her thoughts. For a second, she thought maybe Ed was coming down here to hit her some more. That maybe he was still angry with her and saw her walk down here alone. But when she turned around to see Daryl Dixon emerging from the woods, squirrels wrapped on a string around his body, she couldn't help but feel relieved. But then she realized she was only in a towel and dripping wet.

Grace let out a small squeal of embarrassment as her cheeks turned bright red.

Daryl had heard someone in the lake when he was walking back to camp, but he looked momentarily shocked when he saw Grace standing there, dripping wet, with a towel clinging to her body. He quickly averted his gaze, his body tensing with the shock of discovering the girl in such attire.

Grace held onto the towel tighter as she felt her face get hot. The water dripped down her body, sticking her hair to her face and dripping down the sides of her legs to create a little pool beneath her feet. No one had ever seen her in such provocative attire. For a moment, she felt shameful thinking of what the Lord might possibly be thinking of her being caught in such a state.

Daryl shook his head to rid himself of these thoughts now turning in his head. She was eighteen for Christ's sake. Over ten years his junior. He thought of everything to make them thoughts disappear-dead squirrels, his brother's face, Shane, the walkers, animal's blood. He felt himself calm a bit and turned to look at her again and he noticed a dark spot on her face that looked suspiciously like a bruise.

"What the hell happened to yer face?" He asked, roughly.

Grace looked away, keeping her eyes downcast, and muttered, "Nothing."

"Somethin' had to hit ya' pretty hard to get that lil' mark on yer face." He said.

"It's nothing." Grace said, with more conviction this time.

Daryl looked at her doubtful, "If ya' say so."

Grace still refused to look him in the eyes after the conversation they had in the woods the other day. She still was intimidated by him, now more so than ever. She wished he would leave so she could put her clothes back on and maybe splash her face with some water to get rid of the heat of her cheeks.

Daryl finally began walking away and she let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. He passed her and began walking up the hill but then turned around once more.

"And ya' might wanna put some clothes on." He said. "Before one of them boys up there come down here and see ya' like this. Haven't seen a woman like that in a long time, girl. Who knows what they'll do."  
He glanced her over once more, sending chills down her body as he walked away.

**

It had been a day since the group had gone out to get supplies. They were meant to be back last night, so the whole camp was put on edge, even Grace. In her short amount of time here, Glenn had become so close to her and she really wished he'd come back. It was scary staying in the tent alone at night and she didn't have anyone to talk to before she went to sleep, so memories of her past life came into play and she cried herself to sleep most of the time. And she missed Glenn. Amy hadn't been much fun since she was worrying about her sister, not that Grace blamed her. But she just wanted them all to come back safely so things could resume.

It was nighttime again and everyone was sitting by the campfire. Except Daryl who had made his own campfire in front of his tent. She could seem just a bit of the glow from the fire down the small hill.

The group was expressing their worries about the group, wondering if they got caught somewhere, if someone was hurt, if they got lost, if the city had gotten worse and they couldn't escape. Or maybe they had been caught by the walkers and died. So many questions were being asked and no one had any answers. Their worrying was driving Grace crazy. Sure, she was plenty worried about the group-Glenn in particular, but that didn't mean she wanted to think about the dead. Hopefully the trip was just taking longer than expected. Maybe other survivors had ransacked the stores closest to the edge of town, so they had to walk a bit farther to find any supplies. They'd be okay, she hoped.

But right now, with everyone so frantic and worried, she was losing her mind.

She almost wanted to waltz to the city and make sure everything was okay just to shut the group up.

She pushed her blonde hair from her face and stood up.

No one noticed as she walked away from the group.

Hesitantly, she walked past the campfire Daryl was sitting at.. When he heard her soft footsteps approaching, he looked up at her with careful eyes. She could see it in his eyes. He might not give a damn about the others, but Merle still hadn't returned as well and she could see just a small sign of worry in his hard gaze. She made eye contact for a second, before looking down. 

She continued past him before slowly crossing into the treeline, out of sight. She just wanted a few moments to herself, away from the anxious group. She couldn’t handle all the talk about the missing group members, and also from Shane who was already thinking of who would take over the jobs those people had around the campsite, talking about them as if they were already dead. She sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the crickets lost somewhere deep in the woods.

She was quite familiar with this sound. It was the only thing she had to focus on during all those nights alone in the woods. She peeked around at the different trees, looking for one that had low enough branches that she could climb into. She spotted one not too far away. She quietly climbed up a few branches, enough that if any of the dead came near they wouldn’t spot her. She swung her legs over, laying them out against the branch she now rested on, her back pressed against the tree. 

She breathed in a deep sigh, almost laughing at how nostalgic this felt, being up here. She had been so lonely those weeks in the woods alone, but even now, surrounded by people, she felt just as alone. She couldn’t place her finger on why she felt that way. Maybe it was because everyone here seemed to have a routine, one that didn’t include her very much. She thought back to Dale and her conversation with him. He had given her a purpose, one she held close to her heart. Why was that not enough for her now? She helped out around camp, watched the kids, helped with laundry, helped the women with their daily chores. She still felt like she was just another mouth to feed for them. 

She thought back to what Shane had said to her, about the Dixons. She couldn’t help but wonder how he viewed her. Just another orphan to take care of for now. Until what? When would the time come for Shane to cast her off. Maybe when rations got enough more scarce? She was scared of being alone again. She didn’t want to go back to hiding in trees. She laughed at the irony of that, considering she was up in a tree now, hiding from the group. 

Footsteps nearby jolted her out of her thoughts. She sucked in her breath, thinking maybe one of the dead had ventured over here. It had been a long time since she had seen one. Glenn had told her they had never come too close to the camp. Shane or one of the other men had been sure to take out any stragglers they had found but even then, it was always a good distance away from the camp. 

Suddenly the footsteps stopped, it sounded like whatever it was wandering around was right below her. She peered down and noticed Daryl staring up at her. His steele cut eyes making contact with her own blue ones, again the feeling beyond them a mystery to her. 

He looked at her closely, making her cheeks turn a light pink. She was always blushing, Daryl thought. She was so easy to read. Carried her emotions on her sleeve. Even looking down at him now, he could see every emotion play on her face. Her worry, her fear, her embarrassment, her hesitation. It drove him nuts. He wasn't used to someone like that. Growing up with Merle and his dad, they both didn't do emotions. He was taught to be hard and empty from the day he was born. So seeing someone so opened made him a little uncomfortable.

His silence unnerved Grace. Why was he here? Hadn’t he been the one to tell her to stay away from him? So why was he out here in the woods with her a second time now?

“You know, I’m beginning to think you’ve been following me around.” Grace said, looking down at him, “I thought you wanted nothing to do with me.”

“I have been and I don’t.” He answered cooly, “Ya’ stomp around, it's easy to track ya’.”

“If you don’t want anything to do with me, why are you following me?” Grace answered, glaring at him now.

“You’ve been out here long, thought ya’ might be dead. Was jus’ makin’ sure no geek was gonna’ be pouncing on me late at night.” He answered with a glare of his own. 

He studied the bruise on her face, wondering why she refused to tell him how she got it. It had grown a little bigger since that last time he had seen her down by the lake. He quickly pushed those thoughts from his mind, not wanting a repeat of before.  
He started to walk away, not caring to interact with the girl anymore. She was alive and that was all there was to it, he had gotten his answer. He heard the tree shake behind him and then the sound of two feet hitting the ground.

"I'm sorry." She suddenly blurted out causing the man to turn to look at her, confused.

"About insulting your hunting skills." She explained.

Daryl continued to stare at her for a moment and his silence was making her fidget.

"I checked yer trap yesterday." He finally said and Grace perked up.

"Nothin'." He said, making the girl deflate. "Set it up too close to camp. Got to go further next time if yer lookin' to catch anythin'."

Grace nodded, taking his comment to heart. She was mainly happy that he wasn't yelling at her for once. She looked at him again, noticing the way his dark blue eyes glistened in the moon’s light. His normal scowl was soothed out as he stared at the embers, making him appear younger than usual. On most days, Grace would chalk him up to be around thirty. But looking at him now, he appeared to be in his mid-twenties; his stress lines gone and his eyes relaxed.

"Are ya' gonna tell me how ya' got that bruise on yer face?" He suddenly asked. He didn't particularly care that she was hurt, but he was curious.

She looked up at him for a moment, before her eyes shifted back down towards the ground. 

Daryl's eyebrows pulled together, "Did Ed touch ya'?"

Grace still refused to look up at him with those big blues eyes, but her silence answered his question. He felt unexplainable anger. He knew it had been Ed. He could hear it sometimes, him beating up on his wife; their tent was rather close to his. Daryl was a mean person, alright. He got that from Merle. But he would never put his hands on a woman. Ever. 

"Fuckin' dick." He muttered under his breath.

Grace's eyes widened a bit at Daryl's cursing. She assumed he didn't agree with the way Ed dealt with his anger issues. Daryl might be a harsh person, but she had a feeling underneath his exterior, there was a person with some morals. He might not be entirely good, but for some reason she felt deep down there might be some good in him.

"Are you worried about Merle?" She suddenly asked, eager to change the subject.

Daryl glanced at her for a moment, but didn't say anything. 

“I’m done with the chitchat. Ya’ best get back to camp before ya’ worry the others.” Daryl said, before turning around and walking back towards the opening of the tree.

She let out a tiny sigh and she knew that he was. She caught up to him and walked beside him for a moment. This was a rare moment, a calmer Daryl. She glanced at him for a second, noticing his jaw clench which told her he definitely noticed her looking at him. 

"Listen Daryl." She said lightly. He didn't look at her but she knew he was listening, "Merle is a tough guy. I'm sure they've just run into a rough spot and they're making their way back now. Besides, Glenn's with him. He'll keep everyone safe."

"That lil' Asian boy?" He said, "He couldn't even help if he tried. Ain't got the balls for that."

"He's a firecracker, that one." She joked, but then added seriously, "Everyone always underestimates him, but I know he has it in him. He's smart and tougher than he looks."

The doubtful and bewildered look on Daryl Dixon's face was enough to make her smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter! Thanks for reading! Also please stay patient with me, Grace has a lot of growing up to do haha


	4. Eyes Open

The next morning, the camp was more restless than ever. The supply run group should have been back by now. Something must've gone wrong for them to still not be back. Grace had just helped get the kids situated with some breakfast and she sat with them idly, biting on her thumb. She had prayed a bit last night, for Glenn and his group to make it back safely. She wasn't dumb, she knew there was a reason they weren't back yet. Also knew that she might not ever see him again. Still though, she prayed and hoped for a miracle.

"Hey Carl," Shane suddenly called out, "When you're done eating, why don't you come over here, there's something I want to show you."

The boy next to her perked up and started shoveling his food faster, eager to see what Shane wanted to show him. Grace smiled at him and then glanced up at Shane, sending him a smile too when she realized he was looking at her. She had been shocked to find out that Shane wasn't Carl's dad but after she learned that he had been close to the boy's dad, it all clicked in her head.

Shane was a bit bossy but he seemed to have good intentions. And so far, he kept them and the camp safe. Grace was more than thankful for that. She glanced around at the camp, people were still in the process of getting into the swing of the day. She couldn't help but glance at the Dixons' tent. She thought back to last night, the small moment she shared with Daryl. It wasn't much, but it was the first time the man hadn't snarled or glared at her since she arrived. So, she would take it.

"It's late. They should have been back by now." She heard Amy's voice over by the RV. Grace looked over to see Dale and Jim working on something near the front of the car.

"All that worrying won't make it any better." Dale answered the girl, barely looking up from his work.

As if by some weird coincidence, right at that moment the radio sparked up with noise for a second, a transmission coming through. It was garbled and hard to decipher but it sounded like T-Dog. Something about being trapped at a department store. Grace felt her blood run cold. A department store? The only reason she could think of why they'd be there was...for her. She thought back to Glenn, who was adamant that he would be able to find her some clothes and shoes during this trip. Grace grabbed onto the cross necklace dangling beneath her shirt...well, Glenn's shirt.

Dale tried to respond back but the radio cut into silence.

"We do not go after them. We do not risk the rest of the group." Shane insisted, looking over all the camper's and their worried faces.

"We're just gonna leave her there? She volunteered to go to help the rest of us." Amy argued, glaring at Shane.

"She knew the risks. If she's trapped, she's gone; you just have to deal with that." Shane responded, a bit coldly.

Grace felt herself grimace at that, thinking back to her talk with Shane the other day. He was so willing to just drop people like flies it seemed. Maybe he wasn't a good leader.

"That's my sister, you son-of-a-bitch." Amy yelled before storming off, Lori chasing after her.

Grace knew she should go after Amy, comfort her. Hell, she was just as mad as Amy now. Especially if the only reason they were in that department store was because of her. This was her fault. She could see Lori consoling her though so Grace decided to give them a minute. On the other hand, Daryl was not here right now and didn't hear what they all had just learned. She figured someone should go tell him. His brother was on that trip. She didn't see anyone jumping at the chance, probably not even thinking about the two brothers.

She walked down to their tent, hesitantly. She cleared her throat as she stood in front of it. It was zipped up all the way.

"Daryl, are you in there?" She called out. No response.

She glanced around and noticed the burnt out fire in front of the tent from the night before. There were also bloodstains, probably from the squirrels, all around the log next to the fire. The silence unnerved her and she tried to call out again, but still no response. She stood there for a moment, biting her lip before grabbing the zipper in her fingers and slowly unzipping the tent.

It was a mess inside, clothes thrown all about. Two sleeping bags on opposite sides of the tent. She could tell which one was Merle's, that's for sure, the smell alone gave it away. The tent was empty of people though and she noted that the crossbow was gone as well. He was probably out hunting then, she guessed, zipping the tent back up.

**

Hours later, Grace was helping Carol hang up some wet clothes on the clothesline when the sound of sirens could be heard echoing through the mountains. For a moment, she thought maybe it was a rescue squad. That the group in the city came across them and sent them here to get the rest of the group. She could feel hope bubbling in her heart as both her and Carol stopped moving and walked to where everyone else, excluding Daryl, was standing.

"Talk to me, Dale." Shane said.

Dale was standing on the top of the RV, binoculars in his hand. He was quiet for a moment.

"Well, I'll be damned." He muttered.

"What is it?" Amy asked.

After Grace had tried to find Daryl and given up, she had offered Amy some comfort while the poor girl had cried about Andrea, thinking of the worst things possible. There wasn't much Grace could offer and although Amy wasn't a religious person, she had asked Grace for some prayers for Andrea. Grace had been more than happy to oblige.

"Stolen car is my guess." Dale said.

Suddenly, a red Dodge Challenger pulled into the campsite. The alarm was so loud; Grace covered her hands with her ears. It wasn't a rescue group all right, but seeing Glenn get out of the car brought immense relief to her. On impulse, Grace darted forward and launched herself on Glenn, hugging him tightly. His face turned a light pink at the contact but a happy smile was present on both of their faces.

"Shut that thing off!" Shane yelled at Glenn.

"I don't know how!" Glenn yelled back over the blaring noise as Grace let go of the boy. Amy ran to Glenn, demanding to know what happened to others, particularly Andrea.

"Pop the hood." Shane said.

Between Amy yelling at him and Shane's commands, Glenn appeared flustered. Grace giggled at the look on his face and took it upon herself to open the hood for Shane while Amy interrogated Glenn. Shane quickly took care of the noise and then proceeded to yell at Glenn for being his "stupid" move. Dale stood up for the boy but quickly backed down when Shane turned his intense gaze on him. Grace could care less about any of that, she was just happy to have Glenn back.

Glenn told the group about what had happened in Atlanta and everyone was relieved to hear the rest of the group was on their way back. Another car pulled up shortly after, a large van. Andrea's face appeared from behind the van and Amy quickly pulled her in a tight hug, expressing her concerns. Morales also appeared after Andrea and his family looked very happy to have him back in their arms.

"How did you guys manage to get out anyways?" Shane asked.

"The new guy." Glenn said, happily.

"Yo', helicopter boy." Morales called out. "Get over here and meet the group."

A middle-age man stepped out of the driver's side of the van. He was in a cop's uniform. He looked a bit thin and worn but Grace was happy to see another living face. He looked around the group, skimming over their faces. When he saw Shane's, emotion popped into his eyes, recognition. He stepped back for a second, and suddenly he caught sight of Carl. Grace turned to look at Carl who slowly turned his head to look at the new guy. The same emotion appeared in the boy's eyes and he ran towards the new guy, full speed.

Grace's eyes began to tear up as she realized this was Carl's dad. Him, Lori and Carl were locked in a hug, all three looking so relieved and so full of hope. It ate away at her heart, seeing them so happy. So she teared up, feeling so grateful that Carl had his dad back. She silently thanked her Lord for the blessing he had bestowed on the family. Glenn, noticing her expression, grasped her hand lightly in his, giving it a squeeze. She returned it with a smile.

She knew from the moment on, that no matter what happened, she would never lose hope. God worked in mysterious ways, she knew that. And she knew that his grace, his love would never die out. It had been a long time since she had prayed, or even thought about God, but witnessing this reunion, there was no way she could ever deny his presence.

Glenn let go of her hand and ran back to the van. She watched him confused but then realization hit her as he walked back with a large bag in his hand. He gave the bag to her, a big smile present on his face. She took it gratefully and pulled the boy in another hug.

"I managed to grab some clothes I thought would fit you." He said. "Oh! And I found some shoes as well."

"Let's bring this back to our tent and I'll take a look." She said and he walked with her back to the tent.

While he had been gone, she had cleaned all of his dirty clothes and folded them nicely on his side of the tent. She also washed his sleeping bag and set that up nicely as well. He looked a bit surprised when he entered the tent and noticed the neatness. He gave her a quick smile and she just shrugged.

"Least I could do." She said.

She emptied the bag of clothes on her side of the tent. The first thing she noticed was a big pair of boots. They were a dark brown, and chunky. They'd be incredibly useful. She slipped them on quickly. They were a little big but she tightened the laces to keep them secure. They went up just past her ankles. She looked at the rest of the clothes. There were about three pairs of jeans and shorts, white and two blue ones. He had also grabbed her a few tank-tops, she particularly liked a blue and white striped one, and a few t-shirts. She noticed some jackets in the pile as well.

"We don't know how long this will last." Glenn explained. "And it might get cold out."

Grace smiled at his consideration and folded all the clothes nicely on her side of the tent.

"I don't know what I can do to thank you." Grace said, trying to think of something she can do for him in return.

"Don't worry about it, Grace." He said.

"No, Glenn." She replied. "You risked your life for this. I'll make it up to you, somehow."

Glenn just shrugged. He really didn't mind getting Grace some clothes. The poor girl, who had become something of a sister to him, didn't even have shoes and all she had to wear was that ratty dress. And he had managed to make it out of the city safe. He didn't feel she was in debt to him. Just having her here as a companion for him was all he needed.

Grace suddenly looked confused and Glenn glanced at her.

"Where's Merle?" She asked, realizing he hadn't been a part of the group that had come back.

Glenn looked down at his lap.

"Did he get hurt?" She asked, shocked.

"Not really." He said.

"Dead?"

"I don't think so."

"Glenn, what happened to Merle?" She asked, thinking about Daryl. Merle was all that man had.

"Look, Merle...he attacked T-dog. They got in some stupid argument about race and he started beating on him. Rick-he, uh, handcuffed him to a bar on the roof to keep him contained. He gave T-dog the key to the handcuffs when we went to find a way out of the store. When we were overrun by the walkers, T-dog panicked and dropped the key down the drain." Glenn said. "Merle got left, handcuffed, on the roof."

"He's still alive?!" Grace asked.

"As far as we know." He said. "T-dog chained the door to the roof so those things couldn't get inside. But who knows."

"Oh gosh." She said. "Who's going to tell Daryl? That is his brother after all. He's going to be so mad."

"I don't know." Glenn said, "I don't know."

**

It was the next day and Daryl had never returned to camp from his hunting trip. Grace was a bit worried and wondered why no one else had even mentioned him besides their little conversation last night about who would tell him the bad news about Merle.

Grace didn't particularly like Merle. He was rude, perverted, racist and just a little creepy. But she couldn't believe what they had done to him. Tied him up to some roof of a building as though he was a dog who had peed on the carpet. And then to leave him up there. Merle might be mean-but still, that sort of death sentence didn't seem to fit the crime. While she did not by any means condone his actions or the things he said to both T-Dog and Morales, he had pulled his weight around the camp here. Not only that, but he had family here. So she couldn't help but feel sad about what happened to him. No one deserved that to be left like that. Not to die easy and fast. Merle was a rude man, but she couldn't help but like the spirit he had inside him, even if he had it for all the wrong reasons.

Grace was tempted to go look for Daryl. But she had no idea what direction he had run off to and she figured she would just get lost looking for him. Besides, if she did find him she knew he would ask if the group had returned and she didn't have the heart to tell him what happened to his brother. Especially when she knew he had been worrying about him the night before. And she dreaded the moment he would find out.

Suddenly the screams of the children made her jump in surprise. Rick Grimes, the new cop that arrived yesterday, Lori, Carol, Glenn, Shane, T-Dog, and Morales all jumped up and began running towards the direction of the screams. Grace followed close behind.

"Carl!" Lori yelled. "Carl!"

Grace was definitely not ready for the sight they stumbled upon. One of the walkers was up on the hill, feasting on a dead deer. It's skin was gray and decaying, its hair stringy and falling off. He was wearing what looked like a business suit. For some reason, that saddened her. This poor guy had probably been at work when the attack happened. She wondered who he was before this all happened. What his name was, if he was married, if he had kids.

The walker noticed them behind him and stood up, snarling. Shane took the first hit. And then Glenn brought down his weapon on the poor creature. Soon all the men were bashing the walker with their weapons. It fell to the floor as they smacked him and the sight broke Grace's heart. Maybe they didn't have to kill him. She wasn't sure why this idea had come over her. She had never had any qualms before, not that she had ever killed one of the dead. Maybe it was the semblance of safety they had here at the camp. Was killing necessary still? Perhaps there was another way to deal with the dead, a far more humane way. Maybe they could tie him up somewhere he couldn't escape. They had no idea if a cure was being made right now and maybe it was. Maybe this man could be saved. As she stared at the walker being beat to death by the men, she couldn't help but imagine that being her mother instead. She hoped to God no one was beating her like this.

Without thinking, she threw herself in front of the thing lying on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Shane yelled at her. "Get out of the way!"

"Stop! Please, stop hitting him!" She yelled back in response. "We don't have to kill him!"

The walker was struggling behind her, obviously hurt.

"I'm not going to tell you again, Grace." Shane said. "Get out of the way."

"Please!" She begged. "We can tie him up, handcuff him! Anything! He can be cured. We can't kill him. We can't."

Glenn, aware of the frustration and anger of the men around him, pushed Grace away from the thing. The walker was getting too close to her for his comfort and he didn't want her hurt. With the new opening, Dale slammed down his axe, cutting the head off instantly.

Grace let out a little gasp as the head rolled to a stop by her leg. Tears sprung into her eyes as she looked at his face. Despite the blood and the rotting flesh, he still looked like a person.

"This is the first one we've had up here." Dale said. "They never come this far up the mountain."

"They're runnin' out of food in the city." Jim said. "That's all."

A twig snapped nearby and the group could hear footsteps getting closer. Shane raised his gun, getting ready in case another one of the walkers decided to show up because of the noise. When Daryl's face appeared through the leaves and he walked out from behind a boulder, he dropped his gun, letting out a sigh.

Grace could feel the tension from the group.

"Son of a bitch!" Daryl said, angrily. "That was my deer."

He walked past the deer and to the body of the dead walker.

"Look at it, all nawed up." He said, pissed. Then he started kicking the dead body.

"By this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!"

"Listen son, that's not helping." Dale said, softly.

"What do ya' know 'bout it, old man." Daryl snapped, getting in Dale's face. "Why don't ya' take that stupid hat and go back to On Golden Pond?"

Daryl walked back over the deer and began pulling the arrows out of its dead body, "I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna' drag it back to camp and cook us up some venison. Whadda' think we can cut around this chewed up part righ' here?"

"I would not risk that." Shane said, holding his gun behind his head.

"Damn shame." Daryl muttered. "Still got sum squirrel. 'Bout a dozen or so. That'll have ta' do."

As soon as Daryl finished his statement, the dead walker's head came back to life, biting at the air around it. Amy looked absolutely disgusted and walked away with Andrea. Grace, who was still on the floor besides the head, covered her mouth with her hands to keep her scream quiet.

"What the hell, people?" Daryl exclaimed, quickly sending an arrow into its eye. "It's gotta' be the brains. Don't ya'll no nothing?"

Grace let out a small gasp as the arrow impaled it's eye. Daryl noticed her on the ground and looked confused for a second.

"What the hell ya' doing down there?" He asked harshly. "Lookin' ta be killed?"

He grabbed her by the upper arm and hoisted her up. She stood on shaky legs looking pale and Daryl was worried she would puke all over him. He quickly walked away from her and began yelling to Merle to get his ass out to the campfire to help him gut the squirrels. Merle, of course, never came out so Daryl called for him again.

Shane took after him, telling him he had to talk to him. Glenn strung his arm around the shaken Grace and helped her walk back to camp. The whole group was standing around the pair.

"It's about Merle." Shane said. "There was a problem in Atlanta."

"He dead?" Daryl asked, his voice quieter.

Grace bit her lip, almost not wanting to hear what was coming next.

"Not sure."

"He either is or he ain't." Daryl snarled.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick said, coming up behind Shane.

"Who are you?" Daryl asked, his defenses up.

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes." Daryl bit out. "Ya' got sumthing ya' wanna' to tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all." Rick said. "So I handcuffed him to a roof to a piece of metal. He's still there."

Grace felt her body tense as the news was finally blurted out. Glenn tightened his hold on her.

Daryl turned away from him and wiped at his eyes. Grace couldn't tell if he was wiping off sweat or tears, and she felt her stomach drop.

"Hold on." He muttered. "Let me process this. Ya' say ya' handcuffed my brother to a roof? And ya' left him there?!"

"Yeah." Rick said, looking down.

Daryl was pissed. He huffed for a moment before throwing the string of squirrels at Rick, who ducked out of the way, and began to barrel towards him. Shane stepped in his path and knocked him to the ground. He pulled his hunting knife from his pants and got up quickly, swinging it at Rick. Rick, obviously trained, grabbed his arm and shoved it behind his back. Shane grabbed his other arm and grabbed him in a choke whole.

"Best let me go." He yelled.

Grace could see Daryl's face turning red as he tried to breath.

"Chockholdins' illegal." He muttered, out of breath.

"File a complaint." Shane snapped.

Rick bent down to talk to Daryl as his face grew more and more red. Grace suddenly felt scared, not wanting him to pass out.

"Shane, stop!" She screamed, pushing her way forward. Everyone looked at her in surprise, but Shane released him from his grasp. Daryl stayed on the floor for a while, trying to catch his breath.

"What I did was not on a whim." Rick said. "Your brother does not play well with others."

"So you just tie him up like some sort of animal?" Grace exclaimed, surprising the group once again, "And then leave him? That's no way to treat a human being. Merle might be dangerous, but he does not deserve to die like that."

"Look, it was my fault." T-dog said, coming to Rick's defense. "I had the key. I dropped it."

"And ya' couldn't pick it up." Daryl snapped, standing up.

"I dropped it, down a drain."

"If that's suppose to make me feel betta, it don't." Daryl said, walking away.

"Maybe this will." T-dog said. "I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him with a padlock."

"That has to count for something." Rick said.

For a moment, it seemed as through Daryl was going to cry as his face scrunched up and he wiped at his eyes. The sight tugged at Grace's heart.

"To hell with all ya'll." He said, half-heartedly. "Just tell me where he is. So I can goes get him."

"He'll show you." Lori said, from her place by the RV. "Isn't that right?"

Rick glanced down and seemed conflicted for a moment, "I'm going back."

Daryl walked away, picking up the squirrels from the ground and walking to his tent. The group dispersed, everyone going off to do something else as the scene was over. Grace bit her lip, pausing for a moment, before following Daryl. Glenn looked at her confused as she passed him, but she refused to meet his gaze.

She stood outside his tent for a moment, wondering if she should just leave. She knew he was probably going through hell right now. But she felt for him. She wanted to say something, try to comfort him if only a little.

"Daryl?" She called out lightly.

She heard some things shifted around before he answered.

"What the hell do ya' want?" He called out. "Can't you people just leave me alone?"

"I just wanted to talk to you for a second." She said, fiddling with the pink tank-top she had on that Glenn had brought back for her.

When he didn't answer, she hesitantly opened his tent and stepped inside cautiously. Daryl was sitting in the corner holding what looked like one of Merle's shirts in his hand. She placed her hand on his shoulder but he flinched from her touch so she quickly let it drop to her side.

"Look, what they did wasn't right." She said, "But Merle's a strong man. He can hold his own. I bet he's sitting on that roof right now, cussing us all out. He'll be just fine until you guys go get him. I don't doubt that."

Daryl still didn't say anything and for a moment, the tent was silent.

"I know what you're going through." She said softly. "When my town was hit, I was at my dance. Everything was chaotic and I just wanted to make sure my parents were okay. So I ran all the way home, risking death just to make sure they were okay. But they weren't. I found them. My dad was dead by the time I got home and my mom…she-she tried to attack me. My own mother. The woman who cared for me day to day, my best friend."

Grace could feel tears start to form in her eyes, "But Merle isn't like my parents. He's strong. He'll be okay."

She saw some of the tension leave his body as his shoulders slumped forward but he remained quiet. She turned around, about to leave. If there was anything she learned about Daryl, it was that if you bother him for too long it was like poking a bear with a stick. Still though, she had wanted to say something to him. Everyone might not like Merle, but that man was still someone's brother, someone's family.

"Merle is a tough son of a bitch." Daryl's voice stopped her from stepping out of the tent. "Nothin' can kill that dick. Not even me. Only Merle can kill Merle. But bein' chained up like that, he's not as strong as he can be. We might not get along well, but that bastard is still my brother."

"You'll find him." She said, turning back around. "And you'll bring him back. He might not want to come back after what they did to him, but you bring him back. It's safer here than anywhere in that city. And Merle, he might be a little rough, but he's still one of God's children and he deserves to be protected just like the rest of us."

"God's children." She heard him scoff under his breath, "What are ya', some choir boy?"

She winced a bit but the sarcasm in his voice made her let out a tiny laugh, "Close. Preacher's daughter."

Daryl glanced at her for a moment before turning his head back down. She knew that was her signal to leave.

"Grace." Daryl's voice stopped her again. She turned back around to see him looking at her this time.

"Yeah?" She asked.

He tossed her the cut up, flannel shirt that he was holding in his hands. She caught it and glanced at him confused.

"It's Merle's." He said. "Fer some reason, that son of a bitch liked ya'. Can't tell ya' why, but he did."

Grace held onto the shirt tightly and gave him a small smile before leaving the tent.

**

A few hours later, Daryl was sitting by the fire cleaning off his arrows as they prepared for the trip. He thought back to Grace, the preacher's daughter with the innocent smile. She had stood up for his brother to the group, which had surprised him greatly. He remembered Merle mentioning something about her-liked her, actually liked her for some reason or another. Ever since they joined this group, they had been treated like outcasts. He knew they were not even close to being friendly, but they pulled their weight for the group, hunting and getting food for everyone. So it pissed him off the way they treated his brother in Atlanta.

His thoughts floated back to Grace. She had come talk to him in the tent briefly. She was probably the only person at this camp who had ever bothered to even talk to his brother or him for that matter. Not that he particularly cared. In fact, he wished his brother had never even had the smart idea to join with this group. He only wanted to scoop them out for a bit before he planned to rob them anyways. Daryl had argued with him on that. He knew if they had just kept to themselves and found their own way, they would be fine, just the two of them. But Merle was never one who could be reasoned with.

And Daryl wouldn't speak a word of this to anyone, but he did feel a little better after her talk with him. Him and Merle might not have the best relationship, but he was his brother and all he had left in this world. Merle had taught him everything he needed to know-stepped in and took their father's place who didn't give a rats ass about what happened to them. Merle wasn't loving, not at all. But Daryl still cared for him. If he did find his brother, he wondered what that meant for them. They'd probably have to leave the group behind. 'Good riddance', Daryl thought to himself as he looked around the camp. But then he caught sight of a particular blonde who seemed to be fretting over the asian boy and he paused for a moment before shaking his head.

"Why-Why would you risk your life for a douche-bag like Merle Dixon?" Shane asked, as him and Rick walked over by Daryl.

"Hey! Choose your words more carefully." Daryl said, standing up.

"Oh I did." Shane said. "Douche-bag is what I meant. Merle Dixon, guy wouldn't give you a glass of water even if you were dying of thirst."

"What he would or wouldn't do, doesn't matter to me." Rick said. "I can't let a man die of thirst, thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."

"So you and Daryl?" Lori said. "That's your big plan."

Rick turned towards Glenn, looking at him with pleading eyes. Grace stepped in front of Glenn, glaring at Rick. She did not want Glenn to go into the city again. They barely got out the first time and she didn't want him to risk his life again.

"No." She said, crossing her arms. "Glenn is not going on this trip."

"What are you guys together now?" Shane asked from behind Rick.

Both Glenn and Grace turned a bright red.

"No!" She exclaimed. "But I'm not letting him risk his life again."

"You know the way. You've been there back and forth, in and out. You said so yourself. I know it's not fair for me to ask. I know that. But I would feel a lot better with you by my side. And I know she would too." Rick said, gesturing to his wife.

"Don't try to guilt him into this!" Grace said.

"It's his decision, Grace." Rick said calmly.

Grace turned around and looked at Glenn, pleading to him with her eyes not to go. He looked conflicted for a moment. Not sure which side to pick.

"That's just great, you're going to risk three men." Shane said.

"If Glenn goes, I go too." Grace said, not eager to sit at camp listening to everyone worry about the group again.

"No way." Shane said. "No way in hell. You can't handle yourself. And after the stunt you pulled today with that walker."

"I can handle myself just fine." She said, stubbornly.

"No." Daryl piped up, surprising everyone. "Yer not goin'"

She might not be as weak as he originally thought, but he knew how dangerous the city was and he knew she wouldn't be able to handle herself. And he didn't want to have to keep her and his ass safe while he was out there.

"And why not?" She snapped.

"I ain't lookin' to play babysitter, girl." He said harshly.

She crossed her arms and glared at nothing in particular as she walked away angrily. Glenn followed her. Daryl could care less that she was upset. He was just satisfied that she was not going with them. He wanted to get in and out of the city quickly and leave with his brother. He had no doubt that she would just get in the way. His thoughts shifted to earlier, seeing her on the floor next to the walker's head.

"I'm going too." T-dog said from behind him.

Daryl grimaced, "My day just keeps getting better."

He left to go get in the van, eager to get going. Glenn was already sitting in the driver seat with the door open and Grace leaning against it. He hopped into the back of the open van as he waited for Rick and T-dog to get inside so they could go get Merle back.

"Glenn, I really don't want you going." He heard Grace say.

"I'll be fine, Grace." The Asian boy said. "I've done this plenty of times. I'll be back before you know it."

"Promise me you'll stay safe." She pleaded. "No more heroic gestures, okay? It worked out this time with Rick, but maybe it won't work out like that again."

"I'll be careful, Grace. Don't worry." He replied and she leaned over and gave the boy a kiss on the cheek.

Daryl rolled his eyes at their little moment.

"You too, Daryl." Grace said and he glanced over at her. "Promise me you'll stay safe."

"Don't ya' be startin' that shit with me, girl." He said, looking impatiently and Rick and Shane.

"Just promise me, Daryl." She said. "Please."

Daryl rolled his eyes again not liking that now both the attention of the girl and the smaller asian boy was on him. He felt uncomfortable under her gaze so he just nodded with a small grunt, eager to get her to leave.

She smiled lightly before walking off, probably to go talk with Amy or someone. He couldn't help but be baffled by the girl. He couldn't understand why she was so emotional. It drove him nuts.

He looked down at the Asian who was watching her walk away.

"Is she ya' girlfrien' or sumthing, chink?" He asked.

Glenn's face turned red, "No! Grace…Grace is like a sister to me."

Daryl merely raised his eyebrow at the boy before taking a seat in the van, the other men finally joining them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Honestly can't wait to be done with season 1. I'm not the biggest fan of writing s1Daryl. He's so different compared to how much his character evolves once Merle is out of the picture. Anyways, the next chapter should be out this weekend! Thanks for reading :)


	5. For You

Grace sat next to the quarry, washing clothes like the rest of the women were doing. Shane and Carl were splashing about in the water a few ways off and Ed was sitting behind them. His presence put Grace on edge. Her bruise was still present on her face. Glenn had commented on it but she just told him she had slipped and hit her face on a branch while walking down the hill. He had believed her little lie.

"Can someone explain to me how the women ended up doing all the heavyweight day-to-day work?" Jacqui asked.

"The world ended." Amy said lightly, "Didn't you get the memo?"

Grace noticed the way Carol glanced back at Ed for a moment, "It's just the way it is."

The women went back to work, scrubbing away the clothes. Grace could feel some sweat build up on the edge of her hairline as the sun beat down on her back. She had started to get some tan lines from constantly being out in the sun. Her thoughts trailed off to the group who had left to go fetch Merle. She was keeping them in prayers. If Merle was alive, he would've had to survive an entire night alone.

"I do miss my Maytag." Carol piped up from next to Amy.

"I miss my coffee maker, with that dual-drip filter and built-in grinder, honey." Jacqui said, closing her eyes as she thought of it.

Grace giggled at her expression.

"I miss my Benz." Andrea said. "My sat-nav."

"My computer." Amy sighed. "Texting."

"I miss my dog." Grace said, biting her lip, "and my bathtub."

The women nodded in agreement, thinking about the last time they had a nice proper bath.

"I miss my vibrator." Andrea said, suddenly.

Grace's face turned bright red at the mention of a sex toy. The other women caught the expression on her face and laughed to themselves.

"Hey, you're the one who brought up a bathtub." Andrea laughed, "I sure miss those nights to myself."

If it was possible, Grace's face turned even more red.

Carol glanced back at Ed for a second, "Me too."

This sent the women over edge, even Grace and they all began laughing loudly.

"What's so funny?" Ed asked, walking over the group.

Grace's stomach dropped.

"Just swapping war stories, Ed." Andrea said, still laughing lightly.

Ed didn't reply but he walked closer to the group, smoking his cigarette. The smoke stung Grace's eyes and she coughed a little bit. Some people in her town smoke cigars, but she wasn't used to the smoke. The smell, however, reminded her of Merle and her thoughts instantly went to the group in Atlanta. She hoped that they were safe but she was worried about Glenn…and Daryl. She knew the man was going through hell with the situation of his brother and she prayed that they found Merle just fine.

"Got a problem, Ed?" Andrea asked, looking up at the man who paced behind them.

"None that concerns you." He said, "You folks ought to work. This ain't no comedy club."

Andrea stopped working from besides her, glancing up at Ed. Grace wanted to tell her to just go back to working and leave the man alone. She didn't want Andrea to be hit or hurt like she had been. But Ed was standing too close to them. She couldn't warn her.

"I'll tell you what." Andrea said, standing up. "You don't like the way your laundry's done, you are welcomed to pitch in and do it yourself."

She tossed the soaking wet pair of jeans at Ed. Grace squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the blow. He tossed them back at her, harder.

"Ain't my job, missy." He said.

"Andrea, don't." Amy said, coming up behind her.

"What is your job, Ed?" Andrea snapped. "Sitting on your ass, smoking cigarettes?"

"It sure ain't listening to some uppity, smart mouthed, bitch." He said. "Tell ya' what."

He looked down at Carol, "Come on, let's go."

Carol obediently got up.

"I don't think she has to go anywhere with you, Ed." Andrea said, coming to Carol's defense. Grace stood up from her spot on the floor.

"Well, I say it's none ya' business." Ed said. "Come on now, you heard me."

Andrea turned around and placed a hand on Carol's shoulder who pleaded with her to just let it be. Grace took Andrea's side. She was fed up with the way the men seemed to be able to do whatever they wanted without consequence. It was wrong to hit anyone. It was also wrong that everyone seemed to be turning a blind eye to it. Just because the world was over, didn't mean things like this should be allowed. She thought back to her conversation with Shane again, the only person who seemed eager to adapt to this cruel world already. No wonder he had never done anything to stop Ed. Wasn't he supposed to be a cop?

"Hey, don't think I won't knock you on your ass." Ed said. "Just 'cause you're some college educated cooze."

"Now you come along now, or you're going to regret it later." He said, addressing Carol.

"Just so she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed." Jacqui said, harshly. "Yeah we've seen them."

Ed let out a cold laugh that sent chills down Grace's spine and commanded Carol to leave with him again.

"You guys don't keep priding the bull here." He said. "Now I am done, okay."

"Come on." He said, pulling Carol's arm.

"No." Andrea said, grabbing Carol's other arm. Grace grabbed onto Carol's shoulder, not wanting her to leave with Ed. She knew he would just take her off to beat her and it would probably be worse because of the women standing up for her. Ed struggled to get Carol away from the women, sending a gab Grace's way to get her to let go. He nailed her in the jaw and she fell to the floor before he smacked Carol across the face. The woman instantly began to push Ed away and Shane appeared out of nowhere, throwing Ed to the ground.

He beat on him as Carol cried, holding her cheek. Amy helped Grace stand up, asking her if she was okay. She nodded, staying quiet as she held her jaw, rubbing it as it grew red. Shane continued to beat Ed to a pulp, only leaving him when Andrea yelled at him to stop. He whispered a warning to him before walking away.

**

Grace had a bruise on the left side of her jaw, one that matched the bruise on her left cheek. Carol had apologized to her profusely, but Grace knew it was not her fault. Sometimes there was just so much evil and sin in a person that they derailed from the path of God. She wished Ed could be rehabilitated. But she knew God would take care of him. It wasn't her place to judge, it was His.

Ed had been beat up so bad from Shane that he could hardly talk and he mostly sat in his tent, away from everyone. Grace couldn't help but be relieved that she wouldn't have to see him or be around him.

More crazy had been going on around the camp with Jim as well. All day today, he had been digging holes on the upper field. They looked suspiciously like graves and the thought of that sent chills down Grace's body. They had talked to him, but he had thrown a fit-gone into a rage. They managed to settle him down, convince him to drink some water and rest. When he was asked about why he was digging, he said he couldn't remember. Some figured the heat had gotten to him. But Grace couldn't help but be on edge ever since the incident.

It was the evening now, and everyone was sitting around eating. Andrea and Amy had gone fishing together later in the afternoon and had brought back plenty of fish for the group to eat. It wasn't the best meal, but Grace thought it was a lot better than eating squirrels.

"Can you pass the fish?" Carl asked her.

She handed him the plate with some of the fish on it and watched as he took one, sliding it on his plate. Grace suddenly realized how long it had been since she said grace before eating dinner. She knew not everyone at camp was religious, but hesitantly, she cleared her throat, gaining some attention.

"I know we're not all religious, but do you mind if I say grace and give thanks before we eat?" She asked, softly. "It's been so long since I've done so."

The group looked around at each other, debating if it was okay.

"I think it would be nice." Lori said. "For the children, as well."

Shane nodded in agreement with Lori, "Go ahead, Grace."

She nodded her thanks and held out her hand to Carl and Dale who were sitting next to her. Slowly, everyone in the group linked hands and closed their eyes.

"I know it's been awhile since I've expressed my love, God. But my devotion has never been stronger. I pray that you continue to keep our group safe. Please bring back Glenn, Rick, T-dog, Daryl, and Merle home safely. I pray that you watch over the children of this camp and keep their souls' pure in these dark days. And I pray that you bring light to this world, salvation. We thank you for the food you have provided us, the safe shelter of the camp, and the people you have saved here. Amen."

"Amen." The religious people in the group echoed and everyone opened their eyes. Carol had tears forming in her eyes and Lori gave her a small smile.

"Now, we eat!" Shane exclaimed, digging into his fish. "Man this is good."

Everyone laughed as the mood lightened and began digging into their food.

Morales asked Dale about his watch and he gave the story of its origin. Grace thought it was nice that he had something to cherish. She tugged at the necklace on her chest. It was a simple, gold cross that her mother had got her for her eighteenth birthday. She had been taking care of it as Dale had been taking care of his watch.

"I like what, uh, a father said to his son when he gives him a watch that had been handed down through generations. He said 'I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my father's before me, I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it for a moment now and then and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it." Dale said.

"You're so weird." Amy said, causing the group to laugh.

"It's not me." Dale said, laughing as well. "It's-"

"William Faulkner." Grace interrupted, recognizing the quote.

"Looks like we got a smarty-pants over here." Shane joked.

Grace blushed, "My father was a fan. His quote of choice was a bit different though, 'People to whom sin is just a matter of words, to them salvation is just words too.'"

She couldn't help but glance at Shane as she spoke those words. Dale let out a noise of approval, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder.

"I would've liked to meet your father." Dale smiled, "Seems to me like we'd get along."

"Yeah, you two old farts could take your little boat into the lake and read Faulker all day long." Amy teased causing the group to laugh.

The group went back to eating and Amy stood up, setting her plate down.

"Where are you going?" Andrea asked, looking up at her.

"I have to pee." Amy whispered. "Geez, you try to be discrete around here."

This sent the group in another set of giggles.

"We're out of toilet paper?" Amy yelled from her spot next to the RV. Suddenly, a walker appeared from behind it, grabbing her arm and snapping down on it. Amy let out a gut-wrenching scream and she pulled her arm away, falling to the floor.

Grace looked around in fright as everyone started to scream as walkers suddenly piled into the camp. This was bad, she thought, real bad. She grasped her necklace and whispered a prayer under her breath quickly.

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."

People began running off in every direction, screams of terror drowning out the moaning from the walkers. She heard Shane yelling at everyone to get to the RV. She stopped up quickly, her plate crashing to the floor beneath her. She felt a hand on her shoulder, pushing her towards the RV. She turned quickly to see Dale, his eyes wide with fright.

"Come on, Grace." He yelled, "We've got to move now."

She finally felt her feet moving. Her and Dale had been lucky, they had been the closest ones to the RV and the first to make it there. She turned around, looking to make sure everyone else was safely making their way to them, Amy's body in the corner of her eye with Andrea right at her side, crying. Grace felt her own face flushed with tears. Shane had wrangled Lori and Carl, both helping them to safety, Carol and Sophia not too far from them.

Suddenly a high pitch scream had Grace reeling around. It was Morales's daughter. She had been separated from her family and one of the walkers had cornered her. She clung to her doll as it approached her. Grace looked around for her dad and mom, but Morales was one of the few who were aiding in killing the Walkers. Grace looked towards Shane, hoping he would make a move to help the girl, but he seemed more preoccupied with Carl and Lori. When she realized no one was heading towards her direction, something inside Grace snapped. It was as though suddenly the courage she was looking for had shown up.

She took off in the direction of the girl, who was now slowly backing down the hill towards Daryl's tent. She heard Dale yell after her, felt his hand try and grab her arm but she didn't stop. She couldn't. She needed to help. Her legs were much faster than the little girl and soon she was next to her scooping her up in her arms. With the girl now in her arms, she took a second to assess how she could make it back to the RV. She turned around to see that the walker that had been following the girl down the small hill was now accompanied by another. The path to get through them was narrow and Grace wasn't sure if it was worth the risk to try and run back towards the group. Instead she turned back towards the woods. She could do a big loop in the treeline and come up on the other side of the camp and hopefully find a way to make it towards the RV.

With the crying girl still in her arms, she darted past Daryl's tent and into the trees, the two walkers trailing beside her. Although the girl was small, she was heavy enough to be slowing Grace down. The snarls were getting closer and Grace was afraid that she wouldn't be able to make it. She spotted the tree she had climbed up the night before and made a quick plan.

"Eliza, I'm going to help you into this tree, okay?" She told the crying girl, coming to a stop under the tree, "Climb up as high as you can and they won't be able to get to you. I'll be right behind you okay. Don't look down."

The girl nodded at her and she lifted her up, helping her grab the branch. She hoisted the girl on the branch, helping her to stand then and grab the one above her. She quickly pushed her feet up, allowing the girl to get to the second branch. When the girl was safe on the branch, Grace turned to see the Walkers only a few feet away. She quickly grabbed onto the first branch herself and began to lift herself up. She didn't have enough time though as one of the walkers suddenly was at the bottom of the tree, grabbing her foot. It yanked at her and Grace could feel her grip on the tree loosening.

It yanked again as the second walker caught up, this time with enough force to pull her to the floor. She let out a scream as her back collided with the ground and the walker fell on top of her. It was too heavy for her to push off so she wrestled with it, trying to keep it from biting her. It furiously tried to bite at any part of her flesh it could reach as Grace continued to scream.

The group from the city finally made it back to camp, running as they heard the screams. They instantly started to fight off the walkers, trying to keep their people safe. Rick looked for his family, taking down walkers as he continued on. T-dog instantly began smashing the walkers trying to clear a path.

Glenn was the first to notice Grace on the floor, a walker on top of her.

"Grace!" He screamed, drawing Daryl's attention from next to him.

Daryl looked to see Grace's small figure until the walker as it tried to bite her, another looming over the two. He aimed his arrow in line with its head and shot. Both him and Glenn ran over to the girl still wrestling the other walker on the ground. Daryl grabbed it by it's shoulder, pulling it off her while Glenn impaled it's head with a knife.

Grace stared up at both of them, tears still pooling in her eyes. Daryl let the body of the walker drop to the ground as Glenn helped the girl stand up.

"Eliza." Grace whispered frantically to them, "She's up in the tree."

Daryl looked to Glenn and began pushing him in the direction of the others, "Go help the others."

He turned back to watch as Grace coaxed the little girl down from the tree. He saw two tiny shoes peak out from behind the leaves before Eliza came into view. Grace reached out her arms but the little girl clung to the branch, her eyes full of tears. She glanced at Daryl for a second before looking back at Grace and shaking her head.

"Eliza, I know you're scared, but we gotta get back to the camp, okay?" Grace said, trying to get the girl to calm down, "We need to get back to the others."

She watched as the younger girl cautiously looked over at Daryl. Grace followed her gaze and noticed the man standing there, his cobalt eyes catching hers.

"We don't got time for this Grace." He snapped, "Get her down, now."

Grace hurriedly looked back at the younger girl, "Come on, Eliza. Mr. Dixon is going to help us get you back to your parents, alright? Your brother, too!"

Finally Eliza climbed down a little more and was in Grace's reach. She grabbed onto her and lifted her down from the tree and into her arms. She turned to make her way to Daryl when a sharp pain in her ankle suddenly caused her to cry out, one of her arms shooting out from Eliza to grasp onto the tree to keep them both from falling over. She must've hurt her ankle when she fell from the tree as the walker pulled her down.

Daryl ran to the girl and Grace looked up to him, eyes wild with fright.

"Give me the girl." He said, pulling Eliza from Grace's arm, "Do you think you can walk?"

Grace hesitantly tried to place her weight on her ankle. It hurt, but it was bearable now that she didn't have to worry about Eliza. She nodded at the older man and began to limp forward. He threw his free arm in front of her waist and pulled him behind her.

"Stay close." He whispered. Daryl pulled the arrow from the walker's head he had shot earlier and continued walking, trying to get them to safety. He slung his crossbow around his neck and used the pistol Rick had given him instead. It was quicker and easier to use now that he only had one arm to work with.

"Get to the RV!" They heard Shane yelling again. The trio started their way back up the small hill towards the group.

He shot at a walker that growled in front of him and continued walking. He yelled at Grace to stay close at him as he could hear her breathing in fright behind him. He bashed in the head of another walker with the end of the gun, juggling the small girl in his free arm. He shot at a few others, keeping the RV in his line of sight.

He heard Grace scream from behind him and whirled around to see a walker grab on to her arm. He quickly shot it in the head, unfortunately spraying Walker guts all over Grace. She turned back to him and he grasped onto her wrist, dragging her closer this time. He didn't want something else to grab onto her again.

They were really close to the RV and Daryl watched as Rick ran to his son. Daryl bashed in the head of another walker before he realized all the shooting had seized. It was over, he realized, as he looked around. They had taken care of the walkers. With the panic lessening, he noticed Morales and his family rushing toward them. His wife was crying as Daryl handed the small girl off to her, the mom profusely thanking the man. Morales placed a hand on his shoulder, tears in his own eyes, in a sign of thanks before consoling his wife and children.

Daryl turned around and noticed Grace still behind him, still crying. He checked her over once, noting all the blood and guts now covering her. He grabbed her by her upper arms.

"Were you bitten?" He asked, his voice hard.

She shook her head no, tears pooling in her eyes. He glanced down her body, looking for wounds. She had some blood on her legs, but he didn't see any open wounds so he figured it must have been someone else's blood. He looked at her face and noticed the new bruise on her jaw. He grasped her face in his hands, running his calloused fingers over the soft skin of her jaw.

Grace felt her face grow hot at the surprisingly intimate gesture.

"What happened now?" He asked, his voice low.

"Ed." She said, squeezing her eyes shut.

Daryl hissed in anger and released her jaw, looking around at the survivors for the bastard he was going to kill. He didn't see Ed, so he scanned the camp to see his dead body, half eaten, by the tent him and his family lived in. His face was heavily bruised, and Daryl didn't think the walkers did that. He was confused for a second.

"Shane took care of him." Grace whispered, looking up at Daryl with her big, blue eyes.

Daryl couldn't help but wish it had been him that got to beat the shit out of Ed.

Suddenly the cries of Andrea caught everyone's attention. Grace looked around Daryl's body to see Andrea hovering over Amy's body that was covered in blood as Amy struggled on the ground, running her fingers on Andrea's face. Grace felt her throat close up as she watched her friend struggling to hold onto her life. She let out a tiny sob and she felt tears begin to drip from her eyes.

"Amy?" She called out, her voice rough, "Amy!"

Daryl grabbed her and blocked her view of the scene.

"Don't look." He said, roughly.

"Amy!" She yelled out again, trying to break out of Daryl's grip to run to her friend's side. But Daryl held onto her tightly, continuing to block her view. He knew it was bad. The girl's throat had been ripped and her arm chewed. He knew how emotional Grace was, and he knew the girl wouldn't be able to handle seeing her friend like that. So he held her there as she struggled. Her small frame was nothing against his muscular, trained arms.

"You don't want to see that." He said. "Trust me."

He suddenly felt her body go limp as she gave up her struggle. Daryl had to tighten his hold on her as her legs barely kept her up. Tears poured from her eyes, mixing with the dirt and blood on her face. Daryl wondered whose blood was all over her, but didn't ask the girl who was overcome with emotions. So he just held her there as she cried, not wanting to drop her on the floor or let her see her friend. Glenn walked up besides them and wrapped an arm around Grace's shoulder. Daryl let the Asian boy take her from his grasp but continued to block the view of Amy with his body.

Daryl watched the girl cry in the chink's arms. He couldn't help but think back to how she had comforted him when he was worried about Merle. But he didn't know how to help her now. He didn't grow up with no hugs. His father would beat him if he even came home and Merle definitely didn't spread any love to him. He had grown up learning that crying was weakness, emotion was weakness, and that to be a man, you must never give a fuck. But he couldn't help but want to comfort the girl, maybe only because she had helped him before. So, he just stayed as he was, the noise of everyone's grief around him.

And that's how most of the night was spent.

It seemed that Grace had eventually tired herself from crying so much a while later. Glenn and her had sat down on the floor, holding each other as she cried from the loss of her friend. She was sitting limp in his lap, her head on his shoulder. Daryl watched the boy try to stand up and pick her up, but he wasn't strong enough to lift the girl.

Daryl almost wanted to laugh as he watched the Asian boy struggle with the small girl. But he didn't. Instead he pushed the boy out of the way and lifted her into his arms easily. She barely weighed a thing.

Glenn, seeing him about to lift her with such ease, blushed a bit from embarrassment.

"The orange tent." The boy muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. Daryl looked out at the camp. There were walker bodies everywhere and also dead members from the group. He hesitated for a second but then decided it was unsafe.

"Too far." He said. "Here, hold this for a second."

He maneuvered his backpack over to Glenn to hold as he juggled Grace in his arms. Once the backpack was in front of him, he was able to unzip it and pull out an emergency blanket, one that he had always kept as part of his camping kit. Glenn looked down into the backpack, taking note of the supplies. There were definitely enough things inside the backpack that hinted that there was a possibility that Daryl was not planning on returning with the group that day. Glenn figured that had been dependent on whether they had found Merle or not. Glenn looked at him closely but Daryl just met him with a glare. It was enough to keep him quiet.

Daryl moved closer to the RV and began to set the girl on the ground. He grabbed the backpack out of Glenn's hands and placed it on the ground before setting Grace's head on top of it, as if it were a pillow. He then tossed the blanket over her.

Glenn sat down next to the sleeping girl and nodded at Daryl. Daryl felt relieved that he was essentially now free from looking after the girl and made his way over to the front of the RV to assess the damage. He wanted to get over to his own tent and collect a few more of the things he had originally been okay with leaving behind. Before he could, Rick rallied him, T-dog, and Jim over. He told them the plan of how they were to bury the bodies of the ones they loved and burn the rest. He directed them to begin piling the bodies in those two groups. The three men nodded and began to do as he told them to.

And that's how the rest of Daryl's night was spent.

**

The next morning the bodies were almost done being piled into two groups. The group of the buried was small, but still a significant dent to their group. Daryl thought they might as well just burn them all. But he didn't question it. He just helped pile the bodies of their fellow camp members onto the back of his truck to take up the hill. As he pulled the dead body of Ed over, he realized he hadn't been shot in the head. He raised his axe to smash his head, when Carol stopped him.

"I'll do it." She said, grabbing the axe. "He was my husband."

Daryl nodded silently and watched as the woman bashed in the head of the one who had hurt her for years, taking out all her pain and frustration. He thought of his own father who used to abuse him. He wondered if he would be doing the same thing this woman was now...he figured he'd probably bashed his head in before he had actually died from the bites.

He walked away, letting the woman grieve alone.

Instead he grabbed another body from the floor. Not recognizing this one, he figured it was probably going to go in the burn pile. He dragged the damn thing by its leg and walked to where the pile was. He dropped the leg when he saw Grace, who he hadn't seen since last night. She was sitting next to one of the fallen walkers. A little confused, he picked the leg back up and dragged the thing over to where she was.

As he got closer, the girl looked up at him with her big eyes. He could see that she hadn't washed up yet. She was still covered in dirt and blood. The bruise on her cheek was fading, but the one on her jaw looked like it had grown overnight.

"Whadda ya' doin'?" He asked, throwing the leg down. "Get away from that thing."

Grace looked down at the woman, brushing the thin blonde hair from its face. She recognized her. It was one of the women who worked at the local government building back in her town. She didn't know her name, but she knew she lived off Marbury Street and had two children, a husband, and a dog. Her town was small and most everyone knew each other. But for some reason, she couldn't recall her name.

"Do you know her name?" Grace asked, her voice soft.

Daryl looked at her as if she had suddenly grown two heads, "No."

"Neither do I." She sighed. "But she lived in my town. She had children, a husband, a life. They all did. All these people were someone before this happened."

Daryl stayed quiet as he examined the girl. Maybe she was losing her mind.

"Just think about it, would you." She said, turning to look at him. "This could have easily been us, anyone of these people. And here we are, killing them as though they are ants crawling into our kitchen."

"Ya' can't think like that, anymore." He grunted. "Ya' just gotta think about survivin'."

"But isn't that what they're doing too?" She asked. "I don't know what this is. I can't even fathom how it started. But whatever disease they have makes them crave human flesh, our flesh. So they attack. To survive. But it's different for them. They don't think like us anymore. They're like animals. We know better. So why do we keep killing?"

"What choice do ya' have?" Daryl snapped, "Ya' kill or ya' get killed. Simple as that. Best ya' learn that now girl. Or ya' goin' end up like these 'people'."

"I guess you're right." She sighed, looking down. "I guess this is all a part of God's plan. I don't understand why he's doing this, but I've been taught not to question God."

"And ya' were taught not ta kill." Daryl said. "But sometimes things change."

Grace didn't reply and just continued to stroke the hair of the dead woman.

"Listen Grace." He said. "Ya' can sit here and pray, ask God why he did all of this, hope that he keeps ya' safe. But all that's gonna do is get ya' killed. Ain't no God watchin' over us now. So it's best ya' get up and forget about all this Jesus, preacher boy stuff and learn how to survive."

"Everyone thinks I'm this little girl who can't take care of herself." Grace said, not meeting his eyes."I'm not going to give up my faith, Daryl. No matter what God throws at me, I can't. I just can't. I don't care if that makes you guys think I'm stupid or naive. I need it, it's-it's all that I have left of my father."

Daryl was a little uncomfortable with her speech. He didn't do well with emotions and people's feelings.

"If ya' don't wanna' be treated like them children," He said. "Than ya' gotta stop actin' like the children. Ya' gotta toughen up. Stop ya' crying, stop ya' fits about killin'. It's not just about survivin' but being a survivor. Them walkers won't hesitate to kill ya' and ya' can't hesitate either. Pray all ya' want, but when it comes ta killin' ya' don't question it, ya' just do it."

Grace took it all in with silence before standing up, grimacing a bit as she placed some weight on her ankle and facing him.

"Will you teach me?" She asked suddenly. "How to kill them?"

Daryl glanced her over for a second, studying her face. Long eyelashes framed determined eyes, her eyebrows pulled together as she waited for his answer. He wanted to say no. The girl had already warmed up enough to him, treating him like she did. And when he found himself worrying about her, if only a little, last night, he didn't want to form any more attachments to her. This world wasn't meant for things like that. But as he looked at her face and met her eyes, the answer slipped from his lips before he could even think about it.

"Yeah." He said. "Yeah, I'll teach ya'."

Grace smiled at him but Daryl just looked away. He heard her sigh a little and the sound of her voice surprised him. He figured she would leave.

"What happened to Merle?" She asked, realizing she hadn't seen him around.

"Bastard cut his hand off and ran." He said. "Couldn't find him."

Her eyes widened in shock, "Guess he is as tough as you said. Nothing can kill Merle except Merle right?"

"Nothin' can kill Merle except Merle." He echoed.

"Do you think he'll head back here?" She asked.

"He stole the van." Daryl said. "If he'd been comin' back, he would've been 'ere already."

"Doubt he'd want to come back to the people he thought tried to kill him." She said.

Daryl agreed with her.

"Son 'o bitch left me here with ya'll." He joked.

It was the first time Grace had ever heard him joke around and she couldn't help but giggle.

"Couldn't leave if you tried." She said. "You love us so much already."

Daryl smirked knowing that statement was far from the truth, "I'm sure what I feel is love."

Grace giggled some more, sensing his sarcasm.

She laughed, "But I'll leave you alone now, so you can go back to doing what you were."

She went to walk away and Daryl couldn't help but glance at her. She was still limping. He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh before stalking up to the girl and hoisting one of her arms around his shoulder. She looked up at him in surprise but he didn't say anything, just helped her walk over to one of the chairs.

Once she was seated, he walked off before he let himself think of her for even one more second.

**

The group stood on the upper field where Jim had dug those holes, enough for all the dead bodies of their loved ones. She felt a chill go through her spine as she thought about it. She had finally cleaned herself up and was in new clothes. This time, a pair of jeans that miraculously fit her, tucked into her heavy boots and another tank-top. Andrea was still crying, trying to lift Amy's body into the grave, refusing help. The sight brought fresh tears to Grace's eyes, so she looked away.

She turned her head to see Daryl staring at her intently. His stare caused her cheeks to turn a light pink. Their eyes met in a swirl of blue and for a moment, she just focused on his face. The way the dirt clung to his face, emphasizing his bone structure, and that hardness in his eyes, a stark contrast to the lightness in her own. She took noticed of the way his lips seemed to tug downwards, as if in a permanent frown and the way-

"Hey Grace." Lori said, grabbing her attention, "Do you mind, uh, saying a few words for those we lost? I mean, as a preacher's daughter…it would just make some of us feel a little bit better."

Grace nodded her head slowly as the group watched her walk to the front. She could still feel Daryl's eyes on her. She closed her own blue ones for a second, thinking about all the funeral services she had been to with her father.

"We are gathered here today, to say farewell to those we loved and lost, and to commit them into the hands of God." She said, a little unsure. She opened her eyes to see Carol, one of the more religious people in the group give her an encouraging nod as she held her daughter close. Feeling more confident, she continued.

"Lord, our God, you are the source of life. In you we live and move and have our being. Keep us in life and death, in your love, and by your grace, lead us to your kingdom. Through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord." She said, following with an "Amen" that was echoed by the religious people in the group, Morales and his family, Carol and her daughter, Lori's family, and Dale.

She was surprised how much she had remembered from just watching her father and continued with a funeral prayer, "Oh Lord God, who has created us and called us to come home to you. Give us hearts of wisdom, that we may understand how short life is and thus receive every new day as a gift. Give us a living faith in your Son Jesus Christ, who suffered death for our sins, who rose from the grave to give us hope and who lives forever. Teach us daily to die from sin and to live according to your holy will. At the moment of our death, make us ready to depart in peace. And when the eternal day of resurrection dawns upon the graves of the earth, grant us grace to rise to eternal life."

She again finished with an "Amen" that was echoed by the religious people in the group.

"Does anyone have any words for the fallen?" She asked, looking around the group.

Andrea was too overcome with emotions to say anything about Amy, and it didn't seem as though Carol was going to say anything about her dead husband, not that Grace blamed her. Everyone one else was put in a trance by Grace's prayers and were looking at her with sad eyes.

"I would like to say something about Amy." Grace said when no one stepped forward. Andrea glanced up at her for a second and gave her a slight nod.

"I didn't know Amy for long," She said, "But in our short days here, Amy became a friend to me. She was a kind girl, welcoming, friendly, but most importantly, caring. She cared for her family, for her friends, and for the people she met here. I know some of you don't believe in heaven, but we all must have faith that she is in a better place-that they all are."

Andrea looked down, wiping some tears off her face and Dale gave Grace a kind-hearted smile. She smiled at the two of them and continued on with their small, unofficial service.

To finish up the service, she finished with a blessing, "Receive the Lord's blessing. The Lord blesses you and watches over you. The Lord makes his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The Lord looks kindly on you and gives you peace; In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

"Amen." The group finished up.

She limped back to her spot next to Glenn as Carol and Lori patted her on the back. Grace smiled up at them, happy to have helped lift their spirits.

Glenn smiled down at her when she walked back to his side. With Amy gone, they were the last teenagers left. And with everything that happened, they couldn't help but cling to each other as if they were the last two people in the world.

"Where do we go from here?" She asked him.

"I don't know, Grace." He answered, frowning a little, "I guess we go back to what we've been doing."

"And what is that?"

"Surviving." He said, determination in his brown eyes, "We just got to keep surviving."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry about those who aren't religious and read through the funeral scene haha. I'm personally not a Christian, but since Grace is, I figured Lori and Carol would have asked her to say some prayers and blessings at the funeral since they are both kinda religious, at least during this season and she is a preacher's daughter. Anyways, Daryl and Grace are finally starting to interact more and I know Daryl's harsh behavior wasn't as present in this chapter, but during this episode he did appear a little more calm, understanding that everyone was hurting. And I think he's still hurting about his brother too so his personality is a little off. Next chapter, things are going to get a little rough. I'm hoping to finish through the CDC and get to the end of season 1. There will be plenty of Daryl-Grace interaction as things get a little more serious and intense. So definitely look out for that!


	6. Wasted Bullets

Grace stood away from the group as she watched them decide whether or not to go to the CDC or Fort Benning. She had listened in for a while but she wasn't much of a help. She didn't know which one would be safer but if she had to pick who she would rather travel with, she would choose Rick. Although she barely knew Rick himself, Shane's attitude towards the people in the group had Grace hesitant to follow him. She glanced over at Jim who was looking sicklier. He had been bitten when the walkers attacked and she couldn't help but feel her heart break as she saw him deteriorate. Daryl had wanted to kill the poor man. Thankfully, Rick had decided not to.

She grasped her cross and gave a small prayer for the man.

The group had dispersed and it seemed they had begun packing cars. She figured they had finally made a decision and walked over to Glenn.

"So where are we headed?" She asked.

The Asian boy glanced down at her, "The CDC."

"So Shane finally backed down?" She asked.

"Yeah." He said, "Finally."

"Who are you riding with?" She asked, looking at the people packing up the cars. She had packed up most of her clothes after the funeral they had held into a little bag. She was currently wearing a pair of jean shorts and a dark blue tank-top.

"Whoever has room, I suppose." Glenn said, shrugging.

"We have room for one more in the RV." Dale said, coming up behind them, "Other person's going to have to ride with Daryl, I'm afraid."

Before Dale could even finish his sentence, Glenn shot off, running to the RV. Grace rolled her eyes at his behavior.

"Guess that means I'm riding with Daryl." She said, grabbing her bag off the floor. Dale patted her on the back.

She walked over to the man who was putting Merle's motorcycle in the back of the truck. He glanced at her as she stood next to the truck.

"Need sumthin'?" He asked, harshly, " 'cause I'm kinda busy here, if ya' can't see."

She looked down, feeling a bit intimidated again. She thought back to the night before, how Daryl had helped her and Eliza make it back to the group. She thought of his hand grazing over her face again, causing her cheeks to turn bright red. She thought maybe Daryl would start treating her friendlier after that, but it was like it had never happened. He had barely even looked at her since the funeral earlier. She couldn't help but deflate a bit.

"No one else has room in their car." She said.

Daryl looked at her closely, "And I suppose that's my problem?"

"Well, no." She muttered.

"If we'd 'a just killed Jim like I said, we wouldn't be havin' no problem." He said, "Whatever. Put yer stuff in the back. Can't leave ya' here, can I?"

She nodded and threw her stuff next to Merle's motorcycle making sure it didn't get stuck under the wheels. She glanced over to the RV. She saw Glenn standing by the window and as they made eye contact, he actually pointed and laughed at her. She huffed and crossed her arms, glaring at the laughing boy.

Stupid Glenn.

Rick called everyone over to where he was standing to give his final commands before they dispatched. She walked over with everyone else, taking a spot next to Daryl who was biting on one of his nails. Out of habit, she smacked his hand away from his mouth just like her mother would always do to her when she would bite on her nails.

Daryl glanced down at her, "What the hell, woman?!"

"It's a nasty habit." She explained.

"Does it look like I give a fuck?" Daryl asked, "What're ya', my mother or sumthin'?"

Her cheeks turned red at the comment, "No! But what if you have some of their flesh under your nails, or blood? Want to turn into one of those things? I thought you were all for 'survivin' and not letting them walkers take ya' down.'"

She mocked his accent and he glared down at her.

"What the hell did I say about running that mouth of yers, preacher girl?" He hissed.

Grace looked like she was going to retort but Shane interrupted them.

"Are you lovers done with your little spat?" He snapped, "'Cause the rest of us are ready to move on with our lives."

Grace's face turned even redder at his comment. Shane glanced at the pair with an uneasy expression before starting his speech, "Everybody listen up! Those of you with CB's, we'll be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? You have a problem, can't get your CB to get a signal, anything, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

Daryl rubbed his eyes next to Grace, looking like he wanted to get a move on with the plan already.

"We're, uh-we're not going." Morales said, shocking everyone.

"We have family in Birmingham."His wife explained, holding her kids tight to her, "We want to be with our people."

"You go on your own and you won't have anyone to watch your back." Shane warned.

"We'll take the chance." Morales said, "I've gotta' do what's best for my family."

Rick nodded, looking as though he respected that, "Are you sure?"

"We talked about it." He said, "We're sure."

"Alright." Rick said, nodding again.

The cop went into the weapons bag and pulled out a gun and a box of ammo handing it over to the man. They exchanged some words but Grace was too busy watching Daryl who had scoffed and was biting his nail again. He muttered something under his breath but she couldn't make it out.

"Alright, let's go!" Shane said and everyone began walking to their cars.

Grace was about to start walking to Daryl's truck when Morales, with his family behind him, stopped her.

"Uh, Grace?" The man said, calling her attention while rubbing the back of his neck, "I was wondering if you would say a pray for us. It seems right havin' you do it."

Grace looked at Daryl who was watching her closely. She knew he had told her to stop with the Jesus act or whatever words he had used, but looking at this family, she couldn't deny them. They needed God's protection and this…this was just a part of her she wasn't willing to give up just to be a "survivor."

She nodded her head and grabbed one of Morales's hands. His wife grabbed her other hand and their family formed a circle with her.

"Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, 'Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.' And God granted his request. God in heaven hear our prayer; keep us in thy loving care. Be our guide in all we do, bless all those who love us too." She chanted, "Amen."

"Amen." The family chanted. Morales's wife engulfed her in a hug and she gave one last smile to the family before they left to walk to their car. She hoped that God would keep the small family safe but she felt unsure because she had no idea what His plan for them was.

"Come on!" He yelled out to her from where he was resting up against his truck, "I ain't gonna wait around for you forever."

Grace rolled her eyes at his words. She had literally only stepped away for a second to say her goodbyes to the family. Nonetheless, she didn't feel like testing Daryl's patience anymore so she quickly limped over to his truck and slid into the passenger seat. When everyone was ready, Daryl slipped into the truck and took off, following the RV. It was silent for a few minutes before Daryl's voice broke it, surprising her.

"Do ya' think ya' dumb lil' prayers gonna be helpin' those people?" He said, harshly, "Waste of bullets, if ya' ask me. They just drove off to their death. Ain't no way they can survive on their own."

Grace fiddled with her tank-top, "You might think my prayers are stupid. But that night the walkers attacked, those stupid prayers gave me the courage to help Eliza."

"Ya' gave yerself the courage." He said, glaring out the window, "Not yer God."

Grace was silent for a moment, "I think the Morales have a chance. Maybe it's better up north."

"Like I said," Daryl replied, "Waste of bullets."

Grace frowned, she didn't want to think of the family dying.

"Yer ankle still hurtin'?" Daryl broke the silence, surprising her once again. She peered over at him but he kept his focus on the road in front of them.

"A bit." Grace said, "If the CDC is still standing like Rick thinks, I'm sure there'll be a doctor there that can look over it."

"I don't think we'll find much of anythin'" Daryl said, pulling one hand off the wheel to start chewing on his thumb.

"Is that so?" Grace asked, studying the man carefully, "Alright, I'll bite. Where do you suppose we should go instead?"

Daryl shrugged his shoulders, "Don't think we should go anywhere. Thinkin' maybe if this thing is a bust, I should go off on my own. Find some cabin somewhere, live off the land."

"You would just leave us?" Grace asked, her voice low, "It's safer together, Daryl."

"Ya', is that why my brother got tied to that roof like some sorta animal?" Daryl snapped at her, causing Grace to flinch at his tone.

"Look, I don't agree with the way things were handled either." Grace said, glaring at him for taking up an attitude with her as if she were the one who left Merle behind, "But you can't ignore the fact that Merle was a loose cannon. He didn't get cuffed for no reason, ya' know."

Daryl merely scoffed in her direction. He went back to brooding, his hard eyes set on the road. Grace recognized that face again. It was a signal that the conversation was over. She bit her lip, trying to refrain from saying anything to him but she knew if she did, he'd probably just toss her out on the side of the street. So instead she slowly relaxed back into her seat, crossing her arms over her chest.

Silence fell over the truck and the lure of the engine put Grace to sleep.

**

She woke suddenly when Daryl stopped the car. She looked at him confused but then she saw the RV in front of them had stopped as well. Both of them exited the car to walk up to the group congregating outside. The sun was lower on the horizon then she had remembered before she had fallen asleep.

Dale bent over the RV and Grace could see steam coming from the engine.

"Can you jury-rig it?" Rick asked, looking it over as well.

"Most of the engine is held together with duct tape and glue at this point." Dale said, "And I'm out of duct tape."

"There's something up ahead." Shane interrupted, looking through a pair of binoculars, "A gas station maybe. Might be able to go find what we need."

"I'll go with you." T-dog said. Rick nodded his approval and the pair set off, taking Shane's jeep.

Daryl had his crossbow in his hand, pacing around like a caged animal as he kept his eyes trained on the woods. His behavior put Grace on edge, who jumped in fright when Jacqui came running out of the RV yelling something about Jim. She watched Rick enter the RV to go see Jim and couldn't help but feel goosebumps form on her arm thinking of the poor man.

Rick came back out a few minutes later and started telling the group how Jim wanted them to leave him there-to die.

"Back at camp, when I said Daryl might be right and you shot me down," Dale began, "you misunderstood me. I would never go along with callously killing a man. What I meant was that we should ask him what he wants. I think we got our answer"

"So we just leave him here?" Shane said, "And take off? Man I don't think I can live with that."

Rick looked to his friend, the conflict written all over his face. For once, Grace agreed with Shane. They couldn't do that to the poor man. Maybe they could find something for his pain so he could last the trip. Suicide wasn't the answer; it was just a ticket straight to hell.

"It's not your call." Lori piped up, "Either of you."

Shane glanced at her with reproachful eyes. But no one said anything after that, and Grace figured the decision had been made. She felt powerless as she watched Shane and Rick escort the man to a tree a few ways off and trailed behind them despite the warning look she received from Daryl.

"Hey, look, another darn tree." Jim said, his voice lightly. He didn't sound like himself at all.

"You know, Jim." Shane said, bending down to him. "It doesn't have to be like this."

"No, it's good." He replied. "Breeze feels nice."

"Okay." Shane said, wiping his face and standing up. "Alright."

Jacqui took her turn next, bending down to the man. "Jim, just close your eyes. It will all be okay."

She gave him a kiss on the cheek and backed up. Grace couldn't shake the feeling of how wrong this all felt. Rick pulled his gun from his waistband and leaned down to Jim, holding it.

"Jim, do you want this?" He asked.

But the sick man said no, claiming they would need it later. Dale was the last person to mutter some words to the dying man and then they all walked away. Except Grace who couldn't make herself leave the guy's side and Daryl who stood a distance away, watching the pair.

She sat down next to Jim and grabbed onto his hand lightly.

"I don't think this is God's plan for you, Jim." She said softly, feeling tears prickle in her eyes.

The man glanced at her for a second before staring up at the sun.

"I think-I think God has my family." The man muttered. "And that's where my place is. With my family."

"But it doesn't have to be this way." Grace pleaded. "I don't want to leave you here like this."

"Just go." Jim said to the girl, "This is what I want. I'll be okay."

But Grace didn't get up and Daryl was beginning to feel frustrated.

"This is suicide, Jim." Grace tried to reason. "God doesn't take in those who chose to end the life He has given them."

"I'm not killing myself." Jim replied.

Grace swallowed heavily. This was wrong. He shouldn't be giving up like this. His family was safe in Heaven with God now but that didn't mean that his life was over now. God had a lot in store for him if he had kept him alive. He needed to go to the CDC with them; maybe there was a cure. But this...sitting here and wasting away...this was suicide no matter how he looked at it.

"Come on, girl." Daryl called out. "Time to go."

But Grace still refused to get up from Jim's side.

"God, bring mercy to this man's soul for he is weak and needs your guidance." She muttered under her breath.

Jim still remained silent, just staring up into the sun's light..

Daryl, getting angry by her behavior, strode up to the pair and grabbed her upper arm, hoisting her up and dragging her a bit away from the man.

"Jim is a grown ass man making a decision for himself. Leave him be." He snapped, "I thought ya' said you wanted to be treated like an adult here. Ya' wanna be an adult? Then keep yer dumb prayer shit to yerself. Jim didn't ask for it."

"So I'm just supposed to watch him give up? We're just going to drive away and let him die? How does that feel right to you?" Grace pleaded with him.

"There ain't no going back once yer bit." Daryl said, "He knew he was a dead man once it happened, we all did. Now the man just wants to die in peace, let him."

"It feels wrong." Grace said, solemnly as she looked back at Jim sitting under the tree, "It's against God's law to kill yourself."

"Ain't no God here anymore." Daryl snarled, "Ain't no law either."

"Says you." Grace bit back, "God has not given up on us yet and if he hasn't given up, neither will I."

Daryl's grip on her arm tightened and he began dragging her towards the truck.

The group watched the pair with cautious eyes. Their eyes made Daryl feel even angrier. He knew how these people viewed him, knew they saw him as nothing other than white trash. Grace started to protest, trying to escape from his grip. He didn't care how they saw him right now, as he continued to pull Grace towards the truck. All he knew was Jim could turn at any moment, and Grace being that close to him was just trouble brewing. He was already annoyed that the group hadn't just killed Jim from the beginning, like he thought they should've. He was not willing to deal with another person bit.

" 'Ey, Dixon." Shane called out. "You keep that girl quiet. She's going to draw out the geeks."

Daryl only grunted in response as he opened the door of his truck and threw the girl inside roughly before quickly entering the truck before the girl could get out. The girl had managed to get the door open, but he reached across her and pulled it shut before grabbing her face in his calloused hands, making her look at him and give up her struggle to escape.

Grace looked up at the angry man, suddenly fearful. His face was so close to hers, she could feel his breath brush across her smooth lips. Her cheeks turned red at the close contact but tears continued to pour from her eyes. She flinched as his hand grazed over her bruise.

"Didn't I tell ya' to stop with this bullshit?" He hissed at her. "Ya' said ya' didn't wanna be treated like them children, then ya' stop this shit right now, ya' hear me? Ya' wipe those damn tears off yer face, and ya' straighten yerself up. Stop this bitch fit, pussy talk right now. Do ya' hear me?"

He waited for her to give some sort of hint that she would listen to him but she just stared up at him with tear-filled, wide eyes.

"I said, do ya' hear me?" He snarled, pulling her face even closer to his.

The girl finally nodded, her eyes even wider and her breathing heavy. But he still didn't let go of her face.

Grace watched the man, staring intently into his eyes. Daryl suddenly lurched away from her, letting her go as if her skin had shocked him. He leaned back as far as the truck allowed him to, putting quite a bit of distance between them.

Grace herself sat back in her seat, a new confusion rippling through her. What the hell was that? Her heart felt like it was racing, and not just because Daryl had basically scolded her. She wasn't sure what she was feeling or where it came from. She shook her head, letting blonde hair cascade down the side of her face, blocking the man from her view. She blamed it on the emotions the past couple days. A lot had happened in a short amount of time.

She was sure Daryl was upset with her, probably fuming. But she couldn't find the courage to look at him, not after that. She felt embarrassed, as if her thoughts were so loud he could hear them. She squeezed her eyes shut.

Suddenly, a car's horn blasted off in front of them causing Grace to nearly hit her head on the roof of the truck as she jumped in surprise. She then realized it was time for the caravan to take off again. Seems like Shane and T-Dog had made that gas station trip quick enough to get them back on the road. She settled back into her seat, turning her head away from Daryl to stare out the window.

Daryl let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding in and started the car, following after the RV. Grace didn't mutter a single word as she sat there as he drove, staring out the window.

Daryl welcomed the silence.

Grace still couldn't put their interaction behind her. Honestly, she couldn't understand Daryl at all. One minute, he wanted nothing to do with her. The next minute he's suddenly interested in everything she was doing.

"Why do you even care what I think?" Grace finally asked, breaking the silence, "Why did me talking to Jim even bother you?"

"I don't give a damn what ya' think." Daryl said, "I just wanted to get out of there, get back on the road. Jim was a dead man, I said it already. No sense in wasting time over it."

"You clearly don't like any of us." Grace said, glaring at the man who seemed so unbothered about Jim dying, "And you're already itching to go off on your own. So why are you even still with us?"

"Ya' want my whole life story or something?" Daryl scoffed.

Grace rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. Daryl had a way of avoiding questions, that's for sure. She peaked a look at him, glancing over his hardened jaw as he stared at the road ahead of them. By the way the muscles in his face twitched, she knew he could tell she was looking at him.

She wanted to say more, wanted to understand the man she was looking at. But her voice was caught in her throat. He was intimidating to her and she wasn't used to men like him. She still thought he'd probably toss her out on the side of the road if she kept pestering him. So she stayed silent, mulling over her own thoughts.

The only sound between the two of them was the soft purr of the engine.

**

When the RV pulled to a curb suddenly, parking, Daryl realized they were finally at the CDC. He parked his car behind the RV and strung his crossbow around his neck as he got out of the car. He grabbed the rifle from the bed of his van and watched as Grace stepped out of the truck as well. They walked up to the group and took in the scene.

The entire place was covered with dead bodies of walkers and people who still looked like humans. There were military barricades, so it was obvious that this place had been protected. But it was so quiet, and the air was stale. It seemed as though no living thing had passed here in awhile. Rick, gun in hand, gestured at the group to follow him as he weaved through the dead bodies.

"Stay close." Daryl whispered to Grace, holding his gun at ready.

The blonde girl nodded her head numbly and followed behind the man, hoping he would protect her if anything were to happen. They slowly walked to the gates of the CDC and Grace prayed that Rick's decision had been right.

They made it to the front without a problem and Rick tried to lift the shutters. It didn't work and Shane began banging on them, hoping to gain the attention of the people who were hopefully inside.

"No one's here." T-dog said, staring at the building.

"Then why are these shutters down." Rick said.

"Walkers!" Daryl suddenly shouted, alerting the group.

He grabbed Grace around the waist and pulled her to the other side of him as he turned to face the incoming walkers. He lined his crossbow up with the walkers head and quickly shot, taking it down. He turned around and yelled something Grace couldn't understand in anger.

"He made a call!" Shane yelled, storming over to the guy as the cries of Carl and Sophie grew in the background.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl shouted back and Shane pushed him.

"Shut up, you hear me!" He yelled. "Shut up!"

"Rick this is a dead end." Shane said, turning around to face his friend.

"Where are we going to go?" Carol asked, holding Sophia to her body.

Grace could feel tears begin to form in her eyes, losing a bit of hope as everyone was sent into a panic around her. But then she remembered what Daryl had told her in the car and quickly sucked it up, keeping her tears in. Crying wasn't going to help.

"No blame." Shane said, trying to reason with Rick.

"He's right." Lori said, holding onto Carl. "We can't be this close to the city after dark."

"Fort Benning, Rick." Shane said. "Still an option."

"On what?" Andrea said, joining the discussion. "No food, no fuel, it's more than 100 miles away."

"Forget Fort Benning, we need answers tonight." Lori hissed over Carl's cries.

"We'll figure out something." Rick said, trying to keep everyone calm.

Everyone began to break out into cries trying to persuade Rick to leave. Shane turned to everyone and began pushing them back in the direction of the cars.

"We gotta' get out of here." He said, "Come on, let's go."

Grace felt Daryl push her, shaking her from her frozen position and she began to run along with everyone else.

"The camera!" Rick yelled, "It moved."

"You imagine it." Dale explained, holding his gun ready.

"It moved." He muttered under his breath, "It moved."

"Man, it's an automatic device." Shane reasoned, "There's no one in there. Now come on. We can't keep everyone here, it's not safe. We need to leave. We need to leave now."

Everyone grew more panicked as Rick refused to move from his spot. Grace stopped running and stood in her place not sure what to do.

The cop began to yell more things at the camera, but Grace couldn't hear him over the panic of everyone else. She looked back towards the cars to see more walkers begin to come, probably drawn in from the noise. She started to panic as a well. They were trapped in between the building and a line of hungry walkers. They would die. They were going to die.

Suddenly, one of the shutters opened up and they were all blinded by a bright light momentarily. Everyone looked confused for a second. They had been so sure no one was inside the building.

"Come on!" Rick yelled, waking everyone from their trance.

Grace walked in cautiously, watching Daryl from the corner of her eye. He had his rifle held at ready and his crossbow strung around his neck. She could feel the tension of the group as they all looked unsure.

A man in a grey shirt stepped forward from the shadows. He was beyond pale, as though he hadn't seen the sun in years; with matching pale hair and eyes. He looked dejected, almost empty as he glanced over the group. His eyes landed on Grace and they locked eyes. The empty look he gave her sent chills down her spine.

"Anyone infected?" He called out.

"One of our group was." Rick answered. "He didn't make it."

"What do you want?" He called out, not stepping closer and his gun pointed at the group.

"A chance." Rick answered for the group.

"That's an awful lot to be asking these days." He said, but nonetheless put his gun down.

"I know." Rick sighed.

Grace watched him hesitantly. The man for some reason, seemed dangerous, almost not even human. She was suddenly becoming aware of what the world was doing to people. Now more than ever, the true side of people came out and the man in front of them looked so worn out.

Daryl stepped up close behind her, so close she could feel the heat coming off his body. He was still hanging onto his gun tightly.

"You all submit to a blood test." He said. "That's the price of admission."

"We can do that." Rick agreed.

The guy began walking forward, "You got things you want to bring in, you do it now. Once these doors close, they stay closed."

Rick, Shane and T-dog ran outside to grab some of the bags they had dropped at the front of the building and once they were back inside, the strange man commanded something to close the door, running his card through a slot.

Grace looked to Glenn, to make sure he was alright. He was a little pale, probably from the panic they had experienced earlier, but as he caught her gaze he gave her a light smile.

Soon they were all shoved in an elevator. Grace had been sandwiched between Glenn and Daryl. Her whole backside was pressed against the older man as they all squeezed to fit into the elevator and she couldn't help but blush at the contact, especially as the thoughts of what happened in the car entered her mind. She took in quick breaths, feeling nervous and a little anxious for some reason.

Daryl, who was shoved behind the girl, could feel her body pressing up against his side. Her breathing was driving him crazy as she kept squirming against him and he couldn't help but feel his body warm up. He tried to get his thoughts off the girl, thinking back to earlier today. He had no idea why he had acted the way he had, in the truck and also out in the field. He couldn't even begin to understand why he felt some sort of way about the girl, almost as if he cared? He didn't care about her, he reasoned with himself. He just didn't want to have to deal with another person bit like Jim, that's what he kept telling himself.

"Do doctors always go 'round packin' heat like that?" He asked, his voice rougher than normal.

Doctor Jenner glanced back at him for a second, "Well there were plenty lying around, so I familiarized myself."

He looked around the elevator, taking in everyone's face.

"You all look harmless enough." He decided. "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you."

Carl smiled a bit as he realized the man was talking to him; his cheeks turning a light pink.

The mood turned a little somber when the group found out Jenner was all that was left of the CDC and soon they were giving blood tests. When Andrea almost fainted after giving hers, Jenner realized they had eaten in days. He told them of the plentiful food the building had stored and not too soon after, they were all sitting around a dinner table, sharing a meal.

Grace watched as they managed to convince Lori to let Carl try some wine, and laughed when the kid thought it was disgusting.

"Stick to your soda pop, kid." Shane said, drinking from his own glass of wine.

"Not you, Glenn." Daryl said and Grace realized it was the first time he had even called the boy by his name. "I wanna' see how red yer face can get."

The group laughed, everyone's mood lightened with the food in their bellies and the wine on the table. Grace stuck to drinking water. Her father had forbid her from drinking alcohol besides the wine they gave at Church during services. And although he wasn't here now to tell her not to drink any, she couldn't help but cherish his words.

"And you Grace!" T-dog yelled from next to Daryl, "I want to see how a preacher's daughter handles her alcohol."

Everyone in the group laughed as Dale leaned over to pour some wine into her cup.

Daryl backed up T-Dog with a, "Drink up, girl!"

He seemed a lot friendlier with the amount of alcohol pulsing through his body.

Her cheeks turned redder and she pushed the glass away from her.

"I can't." She announced to the group, still choosing her water. "I'm not old enough."

"Oh come on!" Rick laughed, joyous from his alcohol intake. "I promise I won't arrest you for underage drinking. Just one glass, Grace."

"Yeah," Glenn encouraged, "Just pretend you're at Church or something."

Daryl had gone to sit back down and she glanced at him to see him staring at her intently again. She already knew his opinion on the matter and she remembered his words from the campsite. He thought it was about time she let go of the preacher's daughter act. The world had gone to hell, he had said, things weren't the same anymore.

"But I'm not at Church." Grace replied bluntly.

"Even more of a reason." T-dog said, causing the others to laugh along with him.

"If the girl doesn't want to drink, don't force her." Lori said. "It's okay, Grace, you don't have to."

"Drink! Drink! Drink!" Glenn began to chant and most of the others joined in.

Grace was at a crossroad: listen to her father or these new people? She was lost without her parent's guidance. She reasoned that if her father was sitting at the table now, a drink would have never been poured for her. But as she looked around at all the new faces of the people she was beginning to bond with, she couldn't help but be peer pressured. With her eyes locked with Daryl's, she grabbed the glass and lightly took a few sips. The group broke into cheers and Daryl smirked at her.

The cheerful atmosphere of the room was soon broken by Shane, who questioned Doctor Jenner about what had happened to the CDC. Grace could feel the tension in the room escalate and sat in silence as the doctor explained how most of his workers had "opted out" while others had been killed. Grace felt her heart drop at the news, watching Rick's face. She knew he had invested most of his hope and faith into this place and she knew he had been let down a little.

"You are such a buzzkill." Glenn, who was sitting next to her, muttered to Shane.

For a moment, the festivities were over. Everyone sat in silence as they processed the news. And Grace was beginning to see just how tired everyone was at hearing such things. After all they had been through; this had been the only thing keeping people going. But Grace truly believed they shouldn't give up now. So what if Ed Jenner was the last person in the CDC left, maybe they could still do some good here.

Everyone's moods were lightened soon however from the wonderful power of alcohol. Grace only had a few more sips of her own wine, before going back to drinking her water.

Glenn was getting pretty tipsy next to her, finishing up his third glass. Grace glanced at him warily as he sort of swayed back and forth, laughing so hard at one of T-dog's jokes that his face was bright red. It was obvious that Daryl was very familiar with alcohol, because he seemed to not be reacting as much as she would've thought after how much he had drank. It was obvious that Rick was drunk, as he giggled happily at just about anything.

Shane was still brooding in his seat. It seemed he was a bit of what her friend Abby would've called a depressed drunk. He refused to look at anyone and just stared at his food. Grace couldn't help but feel a little bit frightful, seeing the look in his eyes. He looked like a caged lion at a zoo; all this pent up anger with nowhere to displace it.

But it was Shane. He had always been a little off, so she didn't really think about it too much.

The group moved their celebration to one of the recreational rooms, besides Carol and the children who went to another room to look for other games to play. There was a TV in the room, but no one turned it on because Jenner had told them not to use electricity.

For a moment, Grace lingered in the doorway as she glanced over T-Dog and Glenn who were seated on a couple of couches. Daryl had disappeared somewhere along with Rick. In fact, Grace now noticed it was just her and the two guys that had stuck around.

"Aye, Grace." Glenn called out to her, his words slurring a little, "Come look at what me and T-Dog stole."

Her eyebrows raised a bit at that and T-Dog quickly hushed Glenn.

"Nah man, Grace is cool. She won't rat on us." Glenn said, gesturing for the girl to come over to them.

It wasn't like there was much else to occupy Grace's attention, so she walked over to the two boys on the couch, taking a seat in a chair facing Glenn. Glenn smirked at her as he pulled a bottle up from under his seat. She stared at the tall glass bottle, it was filled with brown liquid and the label said 'Southern Comfort'.

"More alcohol?" Grace questioned, hadn't they had enough?

"Hell yea!" T-Dog cheered, slapping Glenn on the back.

"We're gonna' play some games." Glenn said to her, his words slightly slurring, "Play with us."

Grace eyed the bottle hesitantly. She had never had hard liquor before.

"Yea, come on, Grace." T-Dog laughed, "The world ended! If now was ever a time to get drunk.."

He trailed off, grabbing the bottle from Glenn and opening it. He took a quick swig of the drink, his nose wrinkling.

"Man, I haven't had this shit since college." He muttered, "Gross."

"That really makes me want to try it." Grace said, sarcastically.

"Just one game!" Glenn pleaded.

Grace looked between the pair of them, staring at her with half closed eyes. She wanted to laugh at their expressions. She shrugged her shoulders lightly. She already had wine, she had already messed up. What was a little bit more?

The two boys cheered.

"Alright, we're gonna play fuck the dealer." T-Dog said, shuffling some cards that Grace now noticed were placed on the coffee table in front of them, "Y'all ever play that?"

Grace and Glenn shared a look of confusion.

"Nerds." T-Dog laughed, shaking his head, "Alright, I'll show ya'."

**

Grace wasn't sure how much time had gone by, in fact, things seemed a bit hazy right now as she glanced around the room. It was nothing like she had ever felt. The room seemed to move with her, sending a jolt into her stomach. I think I'm going to be sick, she thought to herself. She focused on taking a quick deep breath and stabilizing herself, making a note to not turn her head so fast again.

"Man, you guys are lightweights." T-Dog laughed from next to her, slamming his cards down on the table.

Both Grace and Glenn had a sudden fit of laughter. T-dog raised his eyebrows at the pair.

"Y'all are drunk." He declared, which only made them laugh more.

"Is that what this feeling is?" Grace asking, running a finger over her lips which felt numb.

"Grace, Grace...I think I see two of ya'" Glenn slurring, once again making the pair laugh.

"Oh no, oh boy." T-Dog muttered to himself, "I know where this is headed."

Suddenly Glenn thurched to the side, vomit spewing from his mouth. T-Dog, who had anticipated it, grabbed the small trash can from next to his chair and was able to catch most of it inside. Glenn groaned, wiping his mouth with his hand.

"I think...I think I'm gonna do that again." He slurred.

"Uh uh, hell no." T-Dog said, standing up and grabbing the boy from his chair, "Not in here. We gotta get you to a bathroom, okay. You gotta hold it in till then. Can you do that?"

Glenn nodded, allowing T-Dog to hold most of his weight.

"Grace, do you think you can run down to the kitchen and get some water for Glenn?" He asked, looking over to the girl who seemed drunk, but slightly better then Glenn only because she had been far more conservative taking sips of her own drink.

Grace nodded quickly, her eyebrows pulled together, "Is he gonna die?"

T-Dog couldn't help but snort, "Nah, he'll just wish he did. But hey, the water will help, okay? Meet us in the bathroom down the hall."

And then T-Dog hurriedly helped Glenn out of the room.

The first time Grace tried to stand, she fell right back down in her chair. She couldn't help but giggle to herself again. Everything seemed so much funnier right now. She was starting to understand why people drank. She pushed herself off her seat again, using the arms of the chair to right herself up. What was she supposed to be doing again? Oh yea, she thought to herself, getting water.

She stumbled out of the room, barely able to stand on her two feet. Her legs felt like jello. Where even was the kitchen? She tried really hard to remember the room she had been in just a few hours prior. She walked down the hall, using a hand to brace herself against the wall so she wouldn't tumble to the ground.

'It was a left first, then the second door, right?' Grace thought to herself.

She stumbled down the hallway, slowly. As she turned the corner, she heard some muffled yelling and stopped dead in her tracks. It sounded like...Shane? Her eyebrows pulled together in confusion as she started walking towards the noise. Was that...crying? It sounded like a woman.

She stepped closer, right up to the door now. The muffled raised voices became more clear and it sounded like Lori was in distress. Just as Grace was reaching out for the doorknob, the door itself suddenly slammed open. Lori stormed out of the room, wiping tears off her cheeks. Grace, surprised by the appearance of the woman, jumped back in shock. Before she had a chance to call out to her, Lori was already turning around the corner of the hallway.

Grace peered back into the room, confused on what had exactly caused Lori to be so upset. She felt a chill go down her spine when her eyes made direct contact with Shane's. His face was half lit under the fluorescent light, a dark emotion swimming in his eyes.

"Grace, come here." He said, his voice low.

Though she had never been scared of Shane before, for some reason, in that moment, Grace felt fear. She slowly stumbled into the room, her mind swirling, unable to comprehend whatever she had just heard. It didn't help that she was still completely drunk. The lights in the room swirled in circles and she felt the need to clutch her head in her hands.

She suddenly felt too large hands grab onto her upper arms, so tight it sent another jolt down her spine.

She looked up at Shane who was looming over her.

"I don't know what you heard, or what you think you heard." Shane said, his voice low, "But I can assure you, it wasn't like that."

Grace felt more confused, mainly because she really hadn't heard much of anything from the other side of the door. But she knew whatever had happened in here was wrong, just judging by Lori's face when she had walked out of the room.

"Is Lori okay?" Grace asked.

Shane's grip on her arms tightened even more.

"Lori's fine." He growled, "Nothing happened. We were just having ourselves a little chat. Look, you aren't going to mention this to anyone, okay?"

"Lori seemed really upset." Grace replied, "I should go check on her."

She tried to pull herself out of Shane's grip, but the man was stronger, his grip as tight as can be as he pulled her even closer to himself. She let out a yelp of pain as his fingers digged into her arms.

"Shane, please." Grace let out, "You're hurting me."

"Lori is fine, she doesn't need you to check in on her." Shane grunted, "In fact, it's best if you just forget all about this, alright?"

"I didn't hear anything." Grace said, her voice nearly a whisper, "Please, let me go."

"You didn't hear anything and you didn't see anything, is that right?" Shane asked, drawing her closer to him.

"What's goin' on in here?" Suddenly Daryl's voice came from behind her.

She couldn't help but feel a bit relieved at the sound of it.

Shane however, seemed very annoyed at the sudden appearance of Daryl but he let her go finally. Grace eagerly backed away from him, almost bumping into Daryl's chest. She gingerly rubbed the places Shane had been gripping, trying to soothe the pain.

"Nothin', man." Shane answered, his voice completely different from the tone he had just been speaking to Grace in, "We were just having a bit of a chat."

"Didn't look like nothing." Daryl replied, walking around Grace to face the pair of them.

"Is this what ya' do?" He snarled at Shane, "Force yerself on defenseless girls?"

"Man, you don't know what the hell you're talking about." Shane angrily said back, "Tell 'em, Grace. Tell him we were just talking."

Suddenly it was all too much for Grace. She had barely been hanging on before she walked in on whatever was happening with Shane and Lori and now, her thoughts were even more jumbled. Her legs still felt like jello and the room was beginning to swim again. She opened her mouth to reply but felt herself collapse instead as the alcohol she had consumed twisted in her stomach.

"Woah!" Shane exclaimed as the girl lurched forward, her knees giving out.

Daryl grabbed onto her arm, trying to keep her steady but unknowingly grabbed onto the part of her arm Shane had been. She let out a cry of pain, pulling her arm from his grasp, causing him to latch his arm around her waist to keep her upright.

"I think…" Grace slurred, "I think I'm still drunk. How long is this supposed to last?"

Shane rolled his eyes and pushed past the two of them.

"I'm gonna go find Glenn." He called out, "This is his problem to deal with."

And then he disappeared from their line of sight.

Daryl frowned, suddenly aware of Grace's drunken form, which was now clinging to him.

"Com'on." He grumbled, leading her over to the couches.

He helped her sit down, praying that Shane was actually finding Glenn to come get the girl. He looked down at her, now noticing the red fingerprints around her arms.

"That bastard." He snarled, whipping around to follow after Shane.

He was stopped by a hand on his wrist, pulling his back.

"Daryl, please, don't leave me alone." Grace cried, looking up at him.

Daryl sighed in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"What the hell was that about?" He grunted.

Grace thought back to Shane's veiled threats and slowly swallowed before answering, "I don't know. I don't know what happened. He was just...mad."

"Did he hurt ya'?" He asked, bending down to be on eye level with the sitting girl.

Grace shook her head no, not wanting to admit to the throbbing pain that was still lingering where Shane's hands had been.

"What are you doin' wandering around drunk, anyways?" Daryl asked, "Ain't ya' some bible thumper?"

"Never tried alcohol before." Grace shrugged, her words still slurred, "Glenn and T-Dog wanted to play some game, figured I'd try to get drunk before the world officially ended."

As soon as the name Glenn slipped out of her mouth, she suddenly remembered why she was even traveling through the hallways in the first place. She jumped up suddenly, surprising Daryl who stood up as well.

"Oh, I'm supposed to be getting Glenn water!" She said.

She went to step forward but a pain in her ankle caused her to yelp and once again, end up in Daryl's arms.

"Hey, slow yer horse." Daryl said, helping her sit back down, "Thought ya' said you were gonna have the doc look at that?"

"I was but Dr. Jenner kinda' gives me the creeps." Grace mumbled, fiddling with her shirt.

Daryl stared at her for a moment. He had to admit though, the Doctor had also given him weird vibes. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the entire place to be honest. He felt like a caged animal down here.

"I'll be back." He muttered, before quickly walking out of the room before Grace could stop him again.

Grace sat on the cushion, a bit disheartened. There was no way Daryl was coming back. She also didn't believe that Shane was even looking for Glenn, not that the boy was in any way capable of helping her out right now. She was sure he was still face down on a toilet with T-Dog. Drinking had been fun, she had to admit. But now that she was alone, and incapable of walking back to the room she had made sleeping arrangements in, it didn't seem worth it. She let out a tiny sigh, feeling more alone than ever. It was starting to hit her now that they had somewhere safe to be...just how alone she really was. An orphan, no family, no partner, no anyone tying her to this group.

Before she could dwell on those thoughts, Daryl was suddenly in front of her again, a bandage roll in his hands. She let out a tiny noise of surprise. She really thought he had ditched her in here by herself. He barely looked at her before kneeling in front of her again.

"Lemme see it." He barked at her.

Not wanting to question the man in fear that he would leave again, Grace did as he said. She lifted her ankle into his hands and he gently rolled down her sock. Once exposed, Grace could see how red and swollen her ankle was. The alcohol still flowing through her must've been numbing the pain.

"Uh, do you think it's broken?" Grace asked, peering down at the man in front of her.

"Nah." Daryl shook his head, "Probably just bruised"

"Have you sprained something before?" Grace pondered.

Daryl nodded his head but didn't elaborate which caused Grace to frown in confusion.

"So, what should I do, Doc?" Grace teased, "I've never sprained anything before."

"Well, for one, ya' can stop stomping around on it." Daryl grunted.

"It hasn't been hurtin' tonight." Grace said.

"Ya, cause yer drunk off yer ass." Daryl scoffed at her.

Grace laughed at his tone of voice which caused the man to look up at her in question.

"Okay, Doctor Dixon, can you help me with that problem too?" Her words still slurring.

"Can't do much about that, just gotta' ride it out." Daryl answered, "Imma wrap yer ankle, ya' should probably ice it tonight."

Daryl started to unwind the roll of bandage he had in his hands as Grace stared down at him. She was so confused, wondering if she would ever understand Daryl's ever changing moods. One minute, he wanted absolutely nothing to do with her and then sometimes, like now, he was nice to her. She knew better to bring it up at this point, knowing Daryl would just close off and probably run away. He was good at evading situations that made him uncomfortable. But in these small moments, Grace was starting to think she was seeing the true Daryl. The true person who was underneath all the rough and tough act he usually put on. While he didn't seem to care to talk to her, he was always there to help her when she truly did need it.

She shook her thoughts out of her head, it was all too confusing and she was far too drunk to understand them. Instead she looked back down at the guy who was now carefully wrapping her ankle, the muscles in his arms slightly flexing every time he passed the bandage under her leg.

Daryl, who was preoccupied with wrapping the girl's ankle, nearly fell back in surprise when he suddenly felt two soft hands running up and down his arms.

"Your muscles are sooo big." Grace slurred from above him, "Is it 'cause you fight bears in the woods when you go huntin'?"

Daryl looking at her like she had just grown a second head caused Grace to arrupt in giggles.

Daryl shrugged her hands off his arms, his face turning a light red.

"Keep yer hands to yerself, woman." Daryl barked.

Grace held her hands up in surrender as her own cheeks turned red, "Sorry."

Daryl hurriedly finished wrapping her ankle, eager to get back to his own room, away from anyone else. Once it was done, he stood up and made a show of not looking at Grace as he turned to leave when once again, he felt a hand wrap around his wrist. He flinched at the contact, causing Grace to let go of him.

"You're not leaving, are you?" She asked as he turned around.

"Goin' to bed." Daryl answered, stepping away from her.

"Wait!" Grace called out, "Can you at least help me find T-Dog and Glenn?"

Daryl let out a sigh but reluctantly nodded. Grace smiled up at him and jumped up from her place on the couch. She was feeling slightly better, at the very least, just a tiny bit not as drunk as before.

"Well, come on." Daryl said, wrapping his arm around her side so she could use him as a crutch, "I ain't got all night."

They began to hobble out of the room as Grace asked, "Ya? What could you possibly have planned right now?"

"A nice, quiet night away from y'all." Daryl grumbled as they began walking down the hallway.

"Aw, come on. You were havin' fun at dinner!" Grace said, remembering how lighthearted he had acted earlier.

Daryl scoffed at her, his famous response when he had nothing to say in retaliation, Grace realized. Just as Grace was about to tease him more, T-Dog appeared around the corner. When he spotted Grace, he made a quick "aha" gesture before he looked to Daryl and his face dropped in surprise.

"Uh, oh, hey Daryl." The bigger man said timidly, before looking back at Grace, "I was looking all over for you, Grace. Thought you were in the kitchen, getting water."

"I got lost." Grace giggled, "Daryl was actually just helping me find you guys. Where's Glenn?"

"He's out of commission." T-Dog laughed, "Lil man drank a bit too much."

"Can y'all have this conversation on yer own time?" Daryl snapped, "Here."

He thrusted Grace into T-Dogs arms, who reached out in reflex.

"She ain't my problem no more." Daryl grunted before he turned the corner and disappeared.

Grace rolled her eyes. Of course he would start to act that way as soon as someone else showed up. T-Dog looked at Grace in question but Grace just shrugged her shoulders.

"Alright, let's get you to bed." T-Dog muttered, "You were staying with Glenn, right?"

Grace nodded her head and with that, the pair began making their own way down the hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the wrap up of season 1 and moving onto season 2 finally! I'm excited to really start to explore Daryl and Grace's characters together. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!


	7. Into the Woods

"Hey, uh, how are you holding up?"

Glenn's voice came from around Grace's shoulder as she dug through the trunk of the abandoned car in front of her. She paused for a moment, letting out a long sigh. It had been a rough day and a half...the explosion was repeatedly playing in her mind as she envisioned Jacqui inside with the Doctor...just sitting...just waiting. She couldn't bear the thought of it. She turned to face the boy who was staring at her with concern in his deep brown eyes.

"I'm okay." Grace said, but she didn't believe her own words.

Glenn didn't look like he believed them either, but he didn't have any condolences to give the girl. He was barely hanging on himself.

"Just gotta' keep moving." Glenn shrugged and Grace gave him a small nod in return.

She turned back around to the car she was currently digging through.

"Have you found anything?" Glenn asked, walking up to peer inside the trunk with her.

Grace handed him the comic book she had found, Spiderman on the cover. Glenn looked at her in question.

"Didn't figure you to be a comic book reader." He laughed.

"I'm not." Grace said, "But Carl is."

Glenn smiled and handed the comic back to her, "I'm sure he'll be happy to have something else to read."

"Yeah, Dale's books are kinda'..." Grace laughed, "Well, boring."

"You could say that again." Glenn agreed, shifting his baseball cap up so he could flatten his hair underneath.

Grace slipped the comic book into the forest green backpack she had found in one of the other cars she had dug through his morning and had claimed for herself. She shrugged the backpack on her shoulder and began making her way to the next car.

"I'm going to go check in with Dale." Glenn said, "See if there's any updates on the RV."

Grace nodded at him as she opened the front door of the car before leaning in to pop open the trunk.

"Stay close!" Glenn called out to her as he made his way back to the area the RV had stopped.

Now that she was alone once again, Grace's own thoughts came crumbling down. It had only been a day since their stay at the CDC had ended in a catastrophe. She could still feel the heat of the flames licking her skin as she had laid crumbled in the passenger side of Daryl's truck. It had been a miracle that they had escaped, one Grace had thanked God for. They all barely had time to process what had happened before they were back on the road. The explosion had drawn in too many Walkers and it had no longer been safe to stay in the area.

They hadn't made it very far before they had gotten themselves stuck in this sea of cars and the RV had broken down for the one hundredth time. But this in itself seemed to be another miracle. With plenty of cars around, Dale was able to find the necessary parts to start working on getting the RV up and moving. In the meantime, they had all spread out to search through the cars for supplies.

Grace took a second to look inside the car, not noting anything of importance, before she moved to the trunk she had opened. Inside were two large, black suitcases. She slowly unzipped the first one, cautious of making too much noise. While the highway seemed relatively empty of people, it didn't mean there were not Walkers nearby in any of the cars.

She almost laughed when she was met with the sight of a full bottle of Southern Comfort. She picked it up and slowly ran her fingers over the label. She wished for a second she could go back to that night at the CDC, just to enjoy it for a bit longer now that she knew what was to come of the next day. Wished she had spent longer laughing and playing dumb card games with T-Dog and Glenn, wished she could of lingered more in that room with Daryl when he had finally said more than three words to her, wished she could of known about Jacqui's decision...maybe she could of helped talk her out of staying.

"Looking for part two already, girl?" T-Dog's laughing voice startled her and she dropped the bottle of whiskey back into the suitcase.

"Not in a million years." Grace groaned.

While being drunk had been fun at first, the morning after had nearly driven her mad. She was not prepared for the massive hangover and she had vowed again to never have a sip of alcohol after that.

"Well, I'll take that if you're not going to." T-Dog said, reaching over her to snatch the bottle of whiskey laying in the suitcase.

Grace held her hands up, "It's all yours."

T-Dog shook the bottle in a small victory and continued on ahead of her to look in other cars.

Grace continued to dig through the suitcase. It appeared this one belonged to a man. It was mostly clothes, much like her findings previously. She pushed it aside and opened up the second suitcase. She let out a tiny sigh as she released it was just another pack full of clothes.

It wasn't surprising. It didn't seem like many people actually knew what was happening when this all started. Many seemed to think it was a temporary thing and had only thought to pack some clothes, probably assuming they'd be home in a week or two. Grace pulled out a brown jacket from within the suitcase. She held it up against herself; it seemed about her size. She folded it in her hands but just as she was about to tuck it away in her new backpack, she felt something hard in one of the front pockets. She stuck her hand in and pulled out a small compass. It was silver on the outside, but the face of the compass was a dark, shiny blue. She twirled it around in her hands, the pointer shooting off in every direction she pointed it in. She smiled to herself and tucked it into the front zipper of her backpack, that might come in handy one day.

With that, she closed the trunk of the car and moved forward next to the car T-Dog was currently digging through.

"Find anything?" Grace asked, peering in the car she was about to look through to make sure it was empty.

T-Dog held up a bottle of Advil, rattling it with a smile, "This might come in handy next time we decide to party."

Grace snorted, "I think we might find better uses for that."

Once she saw the car was clear, she opened up the front door and leaned down to pop open the trunk. Before she went to stand back up, something from under the seat caught her eye. She reached forward and pulled a bag of chips out from under the seat. She let out a noise of delight as she turned to face T-Dog to show him her findings. She frowned when she didn't see him beside her anymore.

"Grace." His voice called out to her in a whisper, "Grace, get down."

She looked around, suddenly fearful due to the tone of his voice. She spotted him a little up ahead, bent down as he walked back towards the RV. She also crouched down and began making her way towards him, confused. That was when she heard it...the familiar sounds of groaning. She stood up just a bit to see over the cars and almost screamed in fright before slamming her hand over her mouth. A herd of Walkers were coming their way.

T-Dog letting out a noise of pain drew her attention away from the Walkers. He was pressing himself up against a car, blood pouring from a wound on his arm. Grace hurried over to him, grabbing the new jacket she had just found from her bag as she did.

"Hold on." She whispered to him, wrapping the jacket around his wound as tight as she could to try and stop the bleeding as he let out a noise of pain again as she did so.

"We gotta get out of here." T-Dog hissed, grabbing her hand with his good arm and pulling her forward. They rushed a bit ahead and knelt behind a car, giving them some distance between the herd.

Grace peered over the hood of the car, eyes wide in fear as she took in the sight of the approaching herd.

"They're getting closer." She cried, "What do we do?"

"We gotta keep moving." T-Dog breathed out, clutching his arm.

Blood was already leaking out from the jacket and dropping a trail on the pavement beneath them. T-Dog rushed forward again, Grace trailing behind him. They didn't make it very far before T-Dog stopped, dropping to the floor in pain. Grace rushed to him, wrapping her hands around the jacket to try and stop the bleeding from his arm. He was losing a lot of blood and fast, it was probably only a matter of time before he passed out unless they could wrap his arm better.

"Shit." T-Dog cursed, causing Grace to look at him.

He was looking at something behind her, eyes fearful. She twisted around to see that the herd had started to catch up to them and a lone walker had noticed the pair. It thrashed its teeth as it began to slowly make its way towards them. Grace fumbled with her backpack, digging through it to see if she had anything to kill the walker. Before she could find out, suddenly Daryl appeared from behind a turned over car. He rushed forward in a crouch and slammed a knife into the back of the Walker's head, causing both of them to drop to the floor.

He held his finger up to his lips, shushing T-Dog and Grace. He crouched over to the pair and pulled T-Dog into a lying position. Grace watched in confusion before he pulled the dead walker over T-Dog. She understood his plan and followed as he rushed to the nearest car. There was already a dead walker in the front seat. He pulled out the Walker before turning back to face Grace.

"Get in the car." He whispered to her and she nodded.

As quickly as she could, she fit herself through the door and Daryl closed the door quietly behind her. He gestured at her to get down before he himself disappeared from view, pulling the Walker over his body. Grace could feel the tears pouring down her face as she laid back in the car. She squeezed her hand over her mouth and shut her eyes as she began to hear the dead roaming through the area.

The seconds dragged on to feel like hours as Grace laid in the car. She cried in fear as she could feel the dead bumping up against the car as they passed but she was too scared to open her eyes and see if any had taken notice of her. She prayed over and over again in her head for both T-Dog and Daryl, who were lying on the floor outside. She prayed that Daryl's plan had worked and that the Walkers hadn't noticed the two men.

Just as quickly as they came, they were gone. The silence was almost as unnerving as the sound of their moans. Still, Grace was far too afraid to move from her position. The door to the car creaked open.

"Grace, come on." Daryl's rough voice called out to her.

She sat up in the seat and looked around, not noticing any Walkers. She breathed a sigh of relief before sliding out of the car.

"Are you okay?" She asked, looking over the man in front of her.

Daryl nodded at her before turning his attention to T-Dog. He pulled the walker off of him and Grace took note of T-Dog's labored breathing. Even with the jacket around his arm, he had lost a lot of blood and he appeared to be in bad shape. Before she could assist them, a tiny scream caught her attention.

She stood all the way up, trying to peer over the cars.

"What was that?" She asked.

"I don't know." Daryl shrugged, "But com' on, you gotta' help me get him back to the RV."

As much as she wanted to go make sure everyone was okay, Daryl was right. T-Dog needed to get back to the RV so they could probably deal with his wound or else he would lose too much blood and pass out. She nodded at the older man and knelt down to them again. She helped Daryl pull the other man to his feet. They leaned him up against a car.

"Here." Daryl grunted, "Take these."

He thrusted two bags in her hand. She assumed this was the stuff he had found during his looting. He grabbed at the crossbow that was strung around his back and lifted it off of himself before handing it over to Grace. She reached out to grab it and almost nearly dropped it as he handed it over. It was a lot heavier than she thought it was going to be and she struggled to lift it herself. By the way Daryl had always handled it, she had figured it was relatively light

"Got it?" Daryl whispered as he watched the girl fumble with all the new stuff in her hands.

She finally was able to wrap the holder around her shoulder, easing some of the weight off her arms. She nodded at him, her face flushed red and tear streaks along her cheek. With her assurance, Daryl turned back to T-Dog and yanked the man's arm over his shoulder. Now using Daryl as a crutch, T-Dog was able to move forward.

The trio slowly made their way back to the RV.

Once they were within eyeshot of everyone, Glenn rushed forward. He was about to pull Grace into a hug before he noticed her appearance. He grabbed onto her shoulder as he looked her over.

"Are you okay?" He asked, "What happened?"

Grace looked at him in confusion before she glanced down at herself. It was then she noticed she was covered in blood, T-Dog's blood.

"I'm okay." She reassured the boy, "It's not my blood. T-Dog cut himself up pretty bad."

Glenn looked behind her to see the two men slowly approaching.

"You should go help Daryl." Grace said and Glenn nodded, rushing to the pair to help Daryl assist T-Dog the rest of the way to the RV.

Grace dumped the bags near the door of the RV and unstrung Daryl's crossbow from around her neck. As she was doing so, she heard hushed crying nearby. She looked up, taking in the scene. Carol and Lori were hunched over on the side of the RV. Carol was frantically whispering to Lori with tears in her eyes as Lori rubbed circles in her back. Carl was crying, his tiny body curled in itself as he leaned against the RV. She could hear Andrea and Dale talking from inside in the RV; it sounded like Andrea was in distress. Rick was nowhere in sight and Shane was at the other end of the RV, away from the two crying women, his head held in his hands.

Daryl and Glenn finally caught up and helped T-Dog sit on the ground, his back resting against the RV. It didn't take long for the trio to catch the attention of everyone around them.

"What happened?" Shane barked as he strode over, hovering over T-Dog, "You bit?"

"Nah, man." T-Dog glared at the man above him, "I cut my arm on one of the cars."

"He did, I saw it." Grace said, standing up for her friend. She didn't like the way Shane was staring at him. "I have some first aid training. If we have bandages, I can try and fix him up", Grace added.

Dale, having heard the commotion outside, made his way to observe the group from the RV steps, "I have some bandages in here, Grace", He called out. The blonde girl nodded at him in appreciation.

Grace knelt down next to T-Dog and glanced at his arm. Her jacket was entirely soaked in blood at this point and she grimaced at the state of it. "Let me take a look", She said as she reached out for his arm. T-Dog let her take his arm in her hands and she slowly unwrapped the jacket. The cut was long, almost the entirety of his forearm. As soon as she unraveled the jacket, blood started slipping out of the wound. Grace was relieved that it didn't seem to be pouring out as heavy as it had been just a few moments ago.

"Sorry 'bout your jacket", T-Dog mumbled.

Grace shrugged lightly, "It's okay, I just found it today. I'll find another."

She turned her head up to see Daryl standing over them still.

"Hey, can you go grab us a water bottle or something?", Grace asked.

He nodded and the pair on the floor watched as he went off to fetch what Grace had asked for.

"Was surprised he helped me", T-Dog said, causing Grace to turn back to look at him, "After everything with Merle, you know. Figured he coulda' just left me to die."

"Well, lucky for us, Daryl isn't Merle." Grace said, "He's got a good heart, I think, buried deep underneath the redneck exterior."

T-Dog snorted in laughter, "Not sure about that, sister, but you won't see me questioning him when he decides to help. Just gonna' keep my mouth shut."

"Best not to poke the bear." Grace joked, "Anyways, the bleeding is slowing down so that's a good sign. The important part now is just going to be making sure this wound stays clean, okay?"

T-Dog nodded at her, "Where did ya' learn this stuff anyways?"

Before Grace could answer, Daryl was back.

"Here." He grunted, thrusting the bottle of water out at her.

"Thanks." She smiled as she grabbed the bottle, but Daryl merely looked at her with a neutral expression.

She turned her attention back to T-Dog. She grabbed the discarded jacket, finding a clean spot on one of the sleeves that wasn't covered in blood. She wet it with the water bottle and then began to dab at T-Dog's arm, trying to clean around the skin near his wound. She also poured a bit of water from the bottle over his arm to wash away some of the blood.

"I had to take first aid classes in order to help teach the kids at my church." Grace finally answered T-Dog, "It was required for all the teachers. Just some basic stuff."

"Well, I guess I'll thank God for that." T-Dog joked and Grace let out a laugh.

"Hey, I've got those bandages you need." Dale suddenly appeared, hovering over the pair on the ground.

"Thanks, Dale." Grace said, "You can just set them on the ground, I've gotta' finish cleaning this first."

Dale nodded and did as she said. Once he stood back up, he let out a long sigh, wiping at his brow.

"What happened to you guys?" T-Dog asked, wincing as Grace began to dab at the actual wound this time.

"Sophia took off, chased by a pair of Walkers." Dale sighed, "Rick went after her so I'm sure she's fine. Probably making their way back to us now."

"Jesus." T-Dog hissed, "That herd came out of nowhere. What was that anyways? Them grouping up like that? We've never seen them do that before."

Dale shrugged, "No we haven't. We're lucky nothing worse happened today."

"Is Andrea okay?" Grace asked as she finally started to wrap T-Dog's arm up. She could still hear the older woman sniffling in the RV.

"One of them got inside." Dale answered, "She took it out but not without a bit of a struggle."

Grace looked at him in surprise, "I'm glad she's okay."

"Me too." Dale said, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.

Grace went back to focusing on her current tasks as the group began to disperse again. Lori and Carol had taken up residency by the edge of the highway, looking out over the railing for any signs of Rick and Sophia. Shane had started digging through cars again, his face twisted in several different emotions. Dale went back inside the RV to make sure Andrea was okay and to help with cleaning out the walker blood that still remained in the hallway. Carl was still sitting on the other side of the RV. Grace finished wrapping T-Dog's arm.

"Alright, all done." She said, standing up, "We're probably going to have to change those again later today. You should go sit inside the RV for now, you lost quite a bit of blood."

T-Dog nodded before standing up himself to make his way into the RV. Grace turned around and was surprised as she nearly bumped straight into Glenn. She hadn't realised that he had stuck around the whole time as she fixed up T-Dog.

"Are you okay?" She asked him, realizing she hadn't gotten the chance to do so already.

Glenn shrugged, "I'm okay. Spent a bit too much time in close quarters with Shane, but otherwise, I'm fine."

Grace nodded at him before peering down at herself. She groaned as she realized her shirt was basically ruined, covered in T-Dog's blood.

"Yeah, you should probably go clean up." Glenn laughed, "Might want to throw that shirt away. Don't think those stains are coming out...ever."

"I keep getting and losing clothes at the same rate." Grace joked as she walked inside the RV with Glenn trailing behind her.

She located her bag from the CDC and went to grab another shirt. She turned to make her way to the bathroom but saw Dale still scrubbing at the walker guts on the floor.

"Guess the bathroom is still out of commission." Grace sighed to Glenn.

"Come on." Glenn said, yanking her by the arm out of the RV, "Shane found a truck filled with water, you can clean up there."

She followed behind him as he led her to the place him and Shane had hid from the herd of walkers.

"If you open one of those, it'll pour out kinda like a shower." Glenn explained.

"Thanks." Grace said, "Do you mind keeping watch?"

Her face turned a light red as she realized she would have to take off her shirt outside. When Glenn realized what she was insinuating, his face turned bright red and he whipped around so quickly it was as if Grace had already started removing her clothes. She smiled at his wholesome reaction.

"I'll just be around the side of the truck." Glenn muttered and then took off before she could even say anything.

Now with some semblance of privacy, Grace removed her shirt and twisted the cap to one of the water jugs. The water poured out in a steady stream and she ran her shirt under it, ringing it until the water ran clear. She then began to use it as a rag, slowly washing off the blood that was coating her arms and chest. She had thought to use the water jugs as Glenn had suggested, like a shower, but she didn't want to remove her bra and be in a far more compromising state of attire out here. She also didn't want to leave her bra on and have to deal with a wet, soggy bra under her clothes. So this was the best option she had at the moment.

Once all the blood was off of her, she twisted the cap on the water jug to stop the flow of water before bending down to her bag to grab the extra shirt she had brought to change into. She held it in her hands for a moment, hoping to air dry a little more before putting it on. The sun was beating down on her now, the air hot and dry. It wouldn't take long. She closed her eyes for a brief second, enjoying the way the heat felt on her skin. This was the best time of the year in Georgia. Not too hot, not too cold. Just right in the middle. It was October still, she figured, though it felt like a year had passed since the beginning of everything. In reality, it had only been two months. She let out a tiny sigh at that thought.

The sound of someone stepping on broken glass ripped her out of her thoughts. Her eyes shot open and she let out a small scream of surprise when they connected with a set of deep blue ones. Daryl was standing in front of her, three cars away. His face was frozen in the same amount of shock. The tips of his ears turning red as he noticed the state of undress the girl was in though his eye contact never faltered with her's.

Grace's own face turned bright red and she threw on the gray tank top she was holding in her hands, quickly pulling it down over her torso. Glenn came sprinting from around the side of the truck.

"What? What happened?" He asked in alarm, having heard her scream.

Daryl quickly turned his back to the pair, making a show of digging through the car he was standing next to and purposefully refusing to turn their way. Grace shoved Glenn, her face morphing into irritation.

"I asked you to keep watch!" She snapped in embarrassment.

"Huh?" Glenn replied before he turned around and noticed the hunter behind him, "Shit, Grace, I'm sorry. I didn't hear him."

Grace scoffed at him before storming away; Glenn trailing behind her, his own face now red as well.

"Seriously Grace, he's like some redneck ninja, I swear I didn't hear him." Glenn explained, "You know that."

Grace couldn't help but laugh at Glenn's description of Daryl, though she was still cringing internally at the fact that Daryl had once again seen her in a state of undress.

"Hey, Rick's back!" Glenn pointed out as the pair began to get closer to the RV, "I don't see Sophia, though."

Grace and Glenn shared a look of dread before making their way to the formulating group.

**

It had been at least half an hour since Rick had left with Shane, Glenn, and Daryl in tow. Sophia was supposed to return back to the highway when Rick had drawn the walkers away from her, but she had never come back. Grace let out a sigh as she leaned against the highway railing, looking off into the spot the four men had disappeared into the woods at. Dale was with the RV, tending to T-Dog who was still a bit out of it from losing so much blood. Andrea was in the RV with Carol and Lori who were both in a state of distress from Sophia still missing.

Grace felt her heart in her stomach as she thought about the small girl in the woods all alone.

Her thoughts drifted to the weeks she had spent alone in the forest herself, starving and barely surviving. Sophia was years younger than her and if Grace had barely made it herself...she gulped at that thought. Her thoughts were entirely consumed by the small girl who hadn't even had a life of her own yet. She was far too small and weak to be out there alone. She sat against the railing, gripping her cross necklace in her hand as she repeated prayer and prayer for Sophia.

But that wasn't enough, was it? At least, that's all Daryl had been saying to her in those small moments he had talked to her. Grace's face twisted in anguish at the two conflicting thoughts. On one hand, she had to hope that God would watch over Sophia, to keep her safe. A small part of her on the other hand, agreed with Daryl. It wasn't enough to just hope for the best. That little voice in the back of her head was the entire reason she had even ran after Eliza that night when the walkers attacked the camp.

It wasn't enough to just hope for things to turn out okay. It was still important to believe in God but perhaps this was part of his plans? Not Sophia missing, but the group the little girl had ended up in. Daryl was the best tracker. If anyone was going to find her, it would be him. Rick was a good man, the only who had taken after the little girl in the first place. And here was Grace. A girl who had spent weeks alone in the forest by herself and had survived. Perhaps she was the most important person here right at this moment. Because while Daryl was the best at tracking and knew the woods like the back of his hands, he couldn't even put himself in Sophia's shoes...in the mind of a frightened young, naïve girl...but Grace, Grace could do that.

She closed her eyes for a moment, letting the sun bare down on her skin. She could feel the wind pulsating around her, as if it were calling out to her, giving her instructions. She looked out into the treeline again. The sight looked welcoming, as if it were about to embrace her with open arms. She felt it then. This is what she was meant to do, this was his way of guiding her, she was sure of it.

She spared one last look towards the RV, making sure no one was glancing her way. When she knew the coast was clear, she hopped over the railing and began her descent into the woods.

**

She wasn't sure how long she had been running for. She knew she had already escaped from the vicious claws of a lone walker, who had tumbled over a branch on the ground and struggled to get up to chase after her. Yet still, she ran. It was as if her legs had a mind of their own right now. She didn't know where she was going but for some reason, a chill in the back of her spine told her it was in the right direction.

She didn't let the feelings of her lungs burning stop her as she continued past tree after tree. It was quiet here, the sound of her own breathing the only noise surrounding her. She had only seen that one walker since she had entered the woods, making her hopeful that Sophia hadn't encountered anymore herself.

She continued running until her legs gave out, causing her to stumble to the ground. She let out a noise of frustration before she pushed herself up and over onto her back. She let out some heavy breathing as she relaxed for a moment. She looked up, noticing that she had clear sight of the blue sky above her. She was in some sort of clearing now. The grass was soft underneath her and she relished in that for a moment before jousting herself up to her feet. It was a small meadow, she realized. The grass was overgrown and small white flowers were twisted in-between the long strands. She couldn't help but pause for a moment, soaking in how beautiful the flowers looked in the light of the sun.

She turned around, facing the woods that had laid in the direction she had been running.

Her breath caught in the back of her throat at what the sight in front of her held.

"Sophia?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry this chapter took awhile to get out. I've been toying very long with the decision to save Sophia or not. It was an important plot point for Daryl's character and his involvement with the group so I wasn't sure if I wanted to change it or not but ultimately decided I can still get Daryl to the point of feeling like he was part of the group while still changing the story! Anyways, hope you guys like this chapter! :) the next chapter is almost complete so hopefully it'll be out some time this week! As always, thanks for reading!!


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